Author's note: Ruby continues to have some issues.
An Alpha Beowolf wandered through Vale's upper class district, looking for prey, when a little girl, barely a meter tall, popped up behind a damaged flower pot and aimed her rifle at it. The Grimm blocked the first shot with its right arm and looked at the girl, only to see that she was gone. The Grimm howled, calling its pack, and over two dozen Beowolves came running towards it. When the Grimm looked around, trying to find the girl, they suddenly found themselves surrounded by dozens of her, hiding behind flower pots, on rooftops, inside buildings, and in any other conceivable place. Then, the girls opened fire.
"Kin Summon is pretty useful," Ruby said when she led her group of soldiers down the road, while her summons walked up to her. They wore simple black sneakers, black jeans and red hoodies with a stylized rose emblem on the front. The summons ran ahead to a three-way crossing, and two stopped by either corner, with one aiming her gun into the next street while the other gave a series of hand signals.
"What are they doing?" Apoy asked. Half a dozen summons hurried around either corner and disappeared from the group's sight, and Ruby stopped, prompting the soldiers to stop as well.
"They developed this kind of system," Ruby answered, "It lets them communicate despite being mute, and quickly coordinate tactical advancements into treacherous territory." The rest of the minions hurried along the left street, while the right side was covered by a handful of them.
"You didn't teach them that?" Amihan asked and watched in awe as the summons move through the streets. One of them gave Ruby a signal, and she started walking along the left street, prompting the soldiers to follow her.
"Nope, I didn't," Ruby answered, "I'm honestly impressed how well they can communicate." They reached a large modern art installation in the middle of a park, and the minions quickly seized it, allowing them to keep track of anything that approached.
"It is pretty impressive, yeah," Amihan said, contacted the base camp and said, "This is Amihan Tempest, we reached the first point. Send in the Knights."
"Copy that," Daragh said, and Amihan put his radio away again.
"Ruby, we're having guests," Amihan said and pointed at a flock of Griffons that were heading for the group. Ruby's minions immediately opened fire, as did the soldiers. Amihan stomped his left foot, releasing an energy wave that covered the ground and nearby buildings in small tornadoes, making his allies' attacks faster and making semblances act like they were augmented with air-dust.
"Leave it to me," Ruby said and burst into rose petals, only to appear above the Grimm. Her hands glowed purple, and she shot web-like energy constructs at the Grimm, binding them and forcing them to land, while a purple energy seeped into their feathers and fur, dealing damage every three seconds. Whenever she fell too far, she dashed upwards again, quickly downing most of the flock.
~o~
Yang killed an Alpha Beowolf, setting off Daybreaker and lighting the nearby Grimm on fire, while also triggering Spectral Healing every time she dealt damage to Grimm. With the Grimm weakened, the soldiers accompanying her moved in, quickly taking out the enemies.
"Hey, Penne, do that bug thing and see if the coast is clear," Yang said, and one of the soldiers following her held out his right hand, with the palm facing upwards. A swirling mass of dark purple energy manifested above his hand, while a golden beetle-shaped mark appeared around his left eye. The orbs from Spectral Healing immediately rushed to regenerate his aura, and black beetles began crawling out of the energy above his hand before flying away.
"Looks like we've got them all," Penne said, then gasped and said, "Actually, not quite. There's something up ahead."
"What is it?" Yang asked. From the soldier's expression, she could already tell that whatever he saw was bad news, and while she really wanted to fight strong opponents, she restrained herself and showed concern instead of enthusiasm, so as to not make the soldiers feel like she wasn't taking their safety seriously.
"A Grimm," Penne answered, "Humanoid, heavily armored. It has a sword and a shield. It looks kind of like a knight, but more the dark kind that works for the bad guys than the real ones. No matter how you look at it, this thing is trouble."
"Alright, I'll go check it out," Yang said, "You guys stay here, and if things go wrong, you just run away." She created an earth-dust Combat Drone behind herself and walked ahead, towards an open dining area in front of a fancy seaside restaurant.
"Be careful," Penne said, and his aura broke, causing his bugs to disappear. When Yang entered the dining area, she saw a large humanoid Grimm, covered head to toe in bone plate armor with a red glow coming from underneath the armor plates. The Grimm had six bone spikes protruding from its back, resembling spider legs, while its red membranous cape fluttered in the wind. It kept its red eyes on her, but didn't engage. The only unarmored parts of its body were its hands, where bone spikes protruded from the knuckles. Yang slowly walked around the Grimm and occasionally taking pictures, while her arm's connection to her scroll let her keep her hands free, should the Grimm attack.
"A real Black Knight, huh?" Yang asked and got ready to fight, and the Grimm drew its curved sword, as well as its kite shield, which had red markings resembling a dragon on it. Just as Yang thought the Grimm was about to attack, she heard a noise and looked around. Easily a dozen Grimm, resembling some kind of robot with thin joints, bone plate armor on the large hands and feet, red eyes, and a single massive shield, surrounded the area and blocked off the roads, but faced away from the battlefield. Yang took some pictures of the new Grimm, and sent the whole collection to her friends.
"What are they doing?" Blake wrote in the group chat.
"Nothing, that's the crazy part," Yang answered, "The Black Knight is just standing there, as if it's waiting for something, while the others ignore me completely."
"Do you need help?" Ruby wrote, "I can send wolves that boost your speed and attack."
"Better not," Jaune wrote, "If that thing is supposed to be a knight, it might be looking for a fair fight, and outside help could trigger some ability or another."
"Makes sense," Yang wrote, "I'll just try my best."
"Well, alright then," Ruby wrote, "But what about the others?"
"Those must be its squires," Jaune wrote, "They're the apprentices of knights, so these Grimm could be a lesser form of the Black Knight."
"So a Black Knight and Bone Squires," Yang wrote, "Anyway, I'll try fighting this thing now." She tuned out the group chat and assumed her fighting stance again, and the Black Knight prepared for combat as well. It let her take the first strike and blocked her punch with its shield, then hit her with its sword and sent her flying into some tables and chairs. Yang shot two shotgun shells behind herself and rushed towards the Black Knight. The Grimm raised its shield in defense, and Yang used the recoil from her weapon to change her trajectory, hitting the Grimm from behind and sticking several explosives into its back.
"How'd you like that?" Yang asked and wanted disengage before the explosives went off. The Black Knight spun around and hit her with its sword again, slamming her into a nearby building. Yang climbed out of the rubble and rushed towards the Grimm, picking up the orbs from Spectral Healing. The Black Knight swung its sword again, hitting her with an upward strike. Yang activated both her own semblance and Trump Card in mid-air, switched to Spectral Assault and curled up her legs. She released some energy through her feet, pushed off the air and jumped towards the Black Knight. The Grimm stumbled backwards, and Yang delivered a flurry of blows, focused precisely on the shield and armor's weak points. The shield shattered almost immediately, and the armor cracked more and more with each blow, until the Grimm died in an explosion of golden flames. Yang stood on the battlefield, surrounded by white orbs with golden flames clinging to them, letting her arms hang. A few seconds later, her aura broke and she fell to her knees.
"Yang, are you alright?" Ruby wrote in the group chat.
"Yes, I'm alive," Yang responded, "Tired, exhausted, beat. But alive."
"What about the Bone Squires?" Blake wrote, and Yang was suddenly on high alert.
"They're leaving," Ruby wrote, "Defeating the Black Knight probably showed them that Yang was too strong for them, so they're retreating. I'll send some wolves to deal with them."
"Let them be," Yang wrote.
"Are you crazy?!" Ruby wrote.
"No, I'm the closest person to them, and have no aura," Yang wrote, "If you attack them now, and they get upset, I'll have to deal with that, and right now, I can barely move. Just let them leave for now. We'll deal with them later."
"But I can't just let them put people in danger," Ruby wrote.
"I'm also people, and you would be putting me in danger," Yang wrote, "I know you don't care if you put your life on the line, but you can't put other people's lives on the line, especially if they tell you not to."
"I- alright, fine," Ruby wrote, "But next time, we'll kill them all."
"Sure," Yang wrote, "But in any case, here's what I learned about this thing during out fight. The shield took almost fifty hits to break." She sent a list of statistics into the group chat, including the Black Knight's weight, as well as offensive and defensive strength. Once all the Bone Squires had left, Yang sent her soldiers a message, and they moved in to secure the area. Penne contacted the base camp and told them to send the Knights, but before the robots arrived, a small pack of Beowolves attacked the soldiers. The Grimm focused primarily on Yang, but were taken out by the golden flaming orbs left behind from the battle.
~o~
In the evening, Ruby's Group and the teachers and students returned to the train station, which was now surrounded by Power Root sprouts. Everyone, and especially Weiss and Yang, looked pretty beat, and the group mostly ate in silence.
"So, Yang," Ruby said and asked, "What happened with that Black Knight? I felt its strength plummet like crazy all of a sudden."
"I hit it," Yang answered, "Really fast."
"I see," Ruby said.
"What about you?" Yang asked, "About the other day, I mean. Are you still upset people got hurt?"
"I am, yes," Ruby answered, "But I decided to get stronger, and picked up some new semblances. Thanks to Kindred Link, I no longer have to worry about the range limit on Self Duplication, so I can send my clones wherever I want with Bubble Teleport."
"But you're not upset about me getting hurt?" Yang asked.
"I am, of course," Ruby answered, "I just… I didn't think straight then."
"Overused another semblance?" Yang asked.
"Multiple," Ruby answered, "Venom Net, Wolfpack, and Kin Summon. All of them make me prioritize killing my enemies over saving people."
"I already know Wolfpack, but what are the other two?" Glynda asked.
"Venom Net is the semblance of one of Raven's bandits," Ruby answered, "It lets me shoot an aura construct resembling a spider's web, that poisons any creature it touches. The poison harms creatures every three seconds, and doubles in strength each time, but is only dealt once if the creature is no longer in contact with the net. Also, the web disappears after a minute. Still, it's useful for restraining Grimm, and deals some serious damage eventually."
"That sounds pretty powerful," Glynda said and asked, "And Raven has someone with that kind of semblance under her control? Are you sure that that's safe?"
"I wouldn't worry too much," Sirena said, "Both Ruby and I have talked to her, and she has since left behind her life of crime and settled in an abandoned town in Mistral." Ren paused for a moment, but then resumed eating.
"I see," Glynda said, turned to Ruby and asked, "So, what about the other semblance?"
"Kin Summon belongs to one of Argent's assassins," Ruby answered, "It lets me summon small minions, barely half a meter tall, to help with combat. They make for excellent support, since I can summon them in large numbers and they have the same long-range capabilities as me, relative to size."
"That sounds great, too," Glynda said and asked, "What do you plan to do today?"
"I figured we could take a break," Ruby answered, "We helped the military establish some foothold in various parts of the upper class district, so they should be able to hold out for a while, until we're fully recovered."
"Wait, really?" Glynda asked.
"Who are you, and where's Ruby?" Weiss asked.
"Yes, really," Ruby answered, "Yesterday, I got so invested in killing Grimm that I almost risked Yang's life, and I need to make sure I don't actually do something like that, or worse, in the future."
"Sounds like a plan," Qrow said, "So don't worry, just take the day off, and let us handle everything else." When no one objected, Ruby was somewhat surprised, since she had expected her friends to try and keep her in the field, but when she looked around, she saw that they were all happy about her taking a day off, even in times like this, and wanted to let her relax.
"Thanks," Ruby said, then continued eating. The others began making plans, and after breakfast, Ruby decided to help out a little bit, sending Weiss to Atlas and summoning a Seer so Jaune could copy Icy Terrain. Weiss returned and fused with Amihan, allowing Jaune to copy Windy Terrain as well, before Weiss fused with Sun for a similar reason.
~o~
Ruby walked through ValTech, covering every entrance she didn't need with purple webs and leaving random items in place to attract Grimm. After some searching, she found the books she needed, and used Loremaster to read up on engineering and the like. Once she had a good grasp on the subject matter, she began building a scale model, and with some basic alchemy, provided the electricity to see if it would work.
"Well, that looks promising," Ruby said to herself when the temperature inside her model fridge dropped, completely without the need for ice-dust or a cooling semblance. She then cut the electricity and pulled out her scroll to calculate how much of which material she would need in order to make it work on a larger scale.
~o~
Ilia ran through Vale's agricultural district, with a pack of Grimm chasing her. When the Grimm slowly caught up to her, she made one last dash with Petal Burst and rushed through a crossing, stopping behind Amanita. When the Grimm reached the crossing, Amanita tightened her Strings, cutting the Grimm to pieces and splashing water on the ground.
"Good job, you two," Sirena said and walked up to the two, who avoided direct eye contact.
"Thanks," Ilia said, then looked at a nearby building and saw a raccoon scampering away.
"What is it?" Amanita asked and collected her throwing knives again.
"Raccoons," Ilia answered, "They're up there, and have been watching us for a while now."
"They're scared," Sirena said, "Let me handle this." She climbed up an old ladder on the side of the building, and turned on Multilingualism as she entered the hollow space under the building's roof. It was stuffy and dusty, and Sirena knew that without her night vision, she'd be blind, even though it was bright outside.
"You there," one of the raccoons said when she stood up and asked, "Who are you? Why are you here?"
"My name is Sirena, and I'm just here to help," Sirena answered and asked, "Do any of you need help with something?"
"Maybe," the raccoon answered, "There are many hawks in this city. They're after us. Protect us."
"How do you suppose I do that?" Sirena asked.
"Think of something," the raccoon answered, "Your kind is smart. Not as smart as us, but smart." The other raccoons chattered in agreement.
"Or maybe we are smarter," Sirena said and asked, "Did you ever consider that we may be so smart that you can't understand all our actions as intelligence?"
"Of course we have," the raccoon answered and asked, "But who's to say that it's not the other way around?"
"True," Sirena said, "Without an objective judge, every species will be susceptible to this bias when judging the intelligence of another."
"You are very wise," the raccoon said, "More so than that human who came here earlier."
"Black hair, red hood, silver eyes?" Sirena asked.
"Yes," the raccoon answered, "When we pointed out that we were smarter, she got upset and left."
"I see," Sirena said and asked, "What did you want to ask her?"
"We were looking for food," the raccoon answered, "We felt like she could help us, since we were getting desperate. Our reserves are running low, after all. The nearby forests have fruits in the spring and summer, but right now, even the bugs and worms are hiding, and there are hawks and owls, so it's not safe for us. We are getting really desperate."
"How about a deal, then?" Sirena asked and said, "I can help you defend yourselves, and you help my friends and I get rid of the Grimm in this city." The raccoon went back to the others, and they talked among themselves for a bit. Out of respect, Sirena turned off Multilingualism again to give them some privacy. When the raccoon came back, she turned the semblance on again.
"Before we agree, we need to know how you plan to help us," the raccoon said.
"Of course," Sirena said and explained, "I can teach you how to manifest your soul as an aura, blocking damage and potentially allowing you to use what's known as a semblance. In fact, with the right training, you can learn to use multiple."
"I've been wondering how your kind does that," the raccoon said and asked, "And that will keep us safe from hawks? Also, what do you plan to do about food?"
"It will keep you safe from hawks, yes," Sirena answered, "Well, for a while. But once they see that they can't hurt you, they'll likely give up, since you're too much work. As for food, I'd have to ask someone else, since she has all the skills necessary for what I have planned."
"Alright then," the raccoon said, "But don't try to trick us. Now teach us how to use our aura."
"Of course," Sirena said, "Just, one thing. I'm currently using a semblance to talk to you, and I can only use one at a time, so while I teach you how to use your aura, we won't be able to understand each other."
"Thanks for the warning," the raccoon said, and Sirena used Mentor to teach all of the raccoons how to manifest their soul as an aura. Once she was done, she switched back to Multilingualism. She could already feel that the two semblances affected her psyche, and she became more interested in getting along with others, and lifting others up, than she was in fighting to the bitter end.
"There, all done," Sirena said, "And now, I'll go and handle your food problem." She left the attic again and climbed down the ladder, resisting the urge to teach the raccoons how to access their semblances. She paused for a moment and shook her head to clear her mind, causing the ladder to break off the wall. Amanita quickly threw her throwing knives into nearby walls and created a net with small holes out of her Strings, then let her down slowly.
"Sirena, are you alright?" Ilia asked and ran over to pick her up. Once she was in position, Amanita made her Strings disappear, and Sirena dropped into Ilia's arms.
"I'm fine, thanks," Sirena answered, and Ilia let her down.
"Are you sure?" Ilia asked, "What happened with the raccoons?"
"Yes, I just got a bit distracted," Sirena answered, "I used Multilingualism to talk to them, and Mentor to teach them how to use their aura, and both had an affect on me. In the past, it wouldn't have bothered me, since I had my plan laid out already and would just follow that, but now, without a plan, it's more of an issue."
"I… see," Ilia said and asked, "So, what did the raccoons want? Are we still safe here?"
"We are, yes," Sirena answered, "As for what they want, well, they want food and safety. I already taught them how to use aura, so they're safe, but they still need food. That's where you come in."
"Me?" Ilia asked, "What do you mean?"
"Because of Emphatic Beacon, Shooting Star, and the dust in your skin," Sirena answered, "I need you to make some rocks that attract invertebrates."
"Alright, got it," Ilia said and used Emphatic Beacon on some of the earth-dust in her skin, despite not really understanding how that should help them. She focused on her ambush sense, targeted various locations in the agricultural district, and used Shooting Star, sending out a series of earthen brown stars.
Author's note: Penne's semblance is based on the Black and Gold Scarabese titans from Huntik: Secrets and Seekers. It's purely for gathering information, but is really good at that.
The Black Knight and Bone Squire Grimm are based on the titans Kilthane and Ironsquire, respectively.
Sirena talks to animals.
