Chapter 8: Inferno
All hell breaks loose.
Ren rested one hand on Sky and the other on Nora as he masked their emotions with his semblance. The three of them could probably have worked out some way to let him use it on Cardin with his foot or something, but that ship had sailed. Cardin refused (something about not being touched by another man), so Nora had gently booped him on the brain with Magnhild. Ren would've preferred a nonviolent solution, but the brutish and now unconscious boy wasn't feeling fear or anger or anything right now, so he guessed it all worked out in the end.
Sky had been on lookout duty in a tree when he saw the Grimm from afar. Fortunately, it did not see him. Hiding with Ren's semblance (or unconsciousness) would use up less aura than fighting or fleeing. The three of them could now do nothing more than sit in the shrubbery near the smoldering embers of their campfire and wait. Cardin lay face down in the dust, but Ren couldn't be bothered to assist him. Certainly not after seeing the way he'd treated Nora and Sky.
"wwwww–"
Odd. Sky said it was a Beowolf, and they usually howled or snarled as loud as they could when they decided to make noise. This one made far lighter sounds. Ren could not see it, but he knew it was close.
He felt his aura drain faster, as Sky tightened his already shut eyes. "Don't worry," whispered Ren. "It will get harder for me to hide us if you worry."
"Not helping," Sky spit out through gritted teeth. He closed his eyes as another quiet growl came from around them.
Nora winked at him. "It can't find us. In ten years, no Grimm has ever seen through Renny's semblance."
A drop of black ooze landed on her forehead. The huntress and two huntsmen looked up.
The Grimm was standing on the branch of a tree right above them. Its gaze was not on them, but Ren saw that the ooze was literally pouring out of its eyes. A chunk landed on his shoulder, and he instinctively removed his hand from Sky's shoulder to brush it off. Ren realized his mistake instantly, but it was too late. If only he'd let go of Nora, who was still calm…
Sky and Nora's eyes shot to Ren, then back to the Grimm. It remained in the treetops, completely unaware of the children beneath it. Or unconcerned by our presence, thought Ren.
"This will be the day we've waited for!"
"This will be the day we open up the door!"
Cardin's scroll lit up and loudly played its ringtone. Ren grabbed it from the unconscious boy's pocket, but this time the Grimm had noticed before he could silence it.
"wwwwww–"
Ren, Sky, and Nora leapt away as the monster descended upon them. Ren fired StormFlower, but the Grimm suddenly had flaps on its arms standing on end. His bullets harmlessly were absorbed by the previously unseen features.
"Hey, you big old meanie! Enjoy some grenades!" Nora cackled and lobbed two blazing pink flares from Magnhild. Both hit the bone face mask head on. The glittery smoke was carried away by the breeze as Ren saw the Grimm's pale white aura crackle at the direct hits.
Wait, what?
"G-Guys, did that Grimm just…" Sky trailed off, as though leaving the though unfinished might prevent it from being true. Ren had to activate his semblance on himself to contain the sheer terror he felt when he saw what took place. For once, even Nora was speechless.
The Grimm had finished picking itself up from the explosions and shook its head in pain. The front two inches of one of its lower tusks was missing, a blunt stub where the jagged harpoon-like point used to be. In its agony, it kicked their campfire and let loose a shower of glowing embers onto the greenery. Flames broke out in the grass and shrubs, spreading slowly into the tall trees. Sky hurled Feather's Edge at the beast's torso with a frightened screech, but the axe stopped short. A pair of wiry black lines intercepted the missile, weaved around it, and snapped it in half. Ren made sure to add prehensile tails to the list of completely bullshit powers he was currently compiling.
A weak groan came from the burning foliage. Cardin, still lying unconscious, began to stir. A different tail wrapped around Cardin's leg and dragged him out of the blaze towards the Grimm. He was raised feet first into the air and dangled uselessly in front of the Grimm. Ren tensed.
"wwww–"
The Grimm dropped Cardin to the ground and finally howled as loud as a Beowolf was supposed to into the smoky sky.
"WWWWWWWWW!"
Sweating from the heat, Ren drew his blades and prepared to brave the flames and rescue his teammate. Abruptly, the Grimm turned away, jumped through the now-raging conflagration, and sprinted away, screeching as it went. The speed at which it moved was unlike any foe Ren had ever encountered. Ren only put down StormFlower when the piercing howls were long gone.
Nora piped up, dead serious for once. "All in favor of grabbing Cardin and gettin' the frick outta here?"
Ren didn't have to deliberate long on that one.
The fires were spreading like…well, like wildfire. They now raged across more than one third of the Emerald Forest. Ozpin and Glynda could hear the screams of Grimm and student alike as they tried to flee. One scream in particular stood out above the rest.
"WWWWWWWWW!"
"Headmaster, we need to act!" Glynda exclaimed in horror.
"I couldn't agree more, Glynda. The safety of our students must be the top priority. Send every aircraft we have."
Glynda rushed off, leaving Ozpin alone to gaze out at burning forest.
First, she'd nearly blown them up.
Now, the forest was on fire, and Weiss suspected it was the same culprit.
It was official. Ruby was out to get her.
Weiss jogged onward, barely escaping the growing fires. She'd removed her bolero jacket and tightly pressed it against her mouth to avoid smoke inhalation. Decorum told her that a Schnee should always be properly outfitted; self-preservation told decorum to go shove a rapier up its ass. Speaking of which, she was down by one Myrtenaster. At least she'd managed to keep hold of her Ice and Lightning Dust before that Death Stalker had wandered off. If trees weren't collapsing around her, she might have been able to track it down. Now, it was as good as lost forever.
There was an Ursa Minor running alongside her, but both of them were so preoccupied with escape that they couldn't spare the energy to engage the other. A painful crack ahead of her heralded the impending collapse of a wide oak tree. Weiss cast a Time Dilation glyph beneath her and shot forward. It cost her all of her remaining Lightning Dust, but she made it to the other side before the tree crashed. The Ursa was not so lucky. It roared as the fires consumed it in a burst of smoke.
A hint of gray to her right caught Weiss' eyes. Ruins of some sort…and far fewer combustible trees.
At the front of the ruins was a circular raised platform with several pedestals holding relics. Several remained, but Weiss passed by them. She may have been clear of the fire, but she also was smart enough to realize that any Grimm familiar with this forest would be heading her way. And without the blazes to keep them distracted, they might just decide to cool down with a Schnee-flake. No, with some Weiss-cream. Screw it, puns weren't her forte.
Beyond the relics, several spires were held up by pillars that seemed to stretch infinitely into a chasm. On the other side of the abyss was a cliff that rose higher than the spires. The ancient stone structures were probably unstable, but she could climb atop one of the towers and control the flow of Grimm by hurling ice projectiles or destroying the walkways.
It's safer than staying here, Weiss thought as she made her way up.
From the highest tower, she had a good view of the forest as a whole. It was night, but the fires lit up the sky. Furthermore, Weiss recognize several Dust-based explosions from their distinctive colored flashes. She had plenty of experience with all different types of Nature's Wrath due to her family's company. What she didn't understand was why, every now and again, a bright silver light lit up the region to her south where the fire was less intense.
Then, to her elation, Weiss saw several bullheads in the distance. She was going to be rescued. Thank the Brothers!
A small pack of Beowolves emerged from the woods and knocked over the remaining relics. The Alpha saw her and roared. Like she suspected, its kin decided they were safe enough from the fires to resume their eternal assault on all of humanity or, more specifically, Weiss.
Weiss' foresight paid off. The mindless beasts all rushed on the same bridge towards her. A single well-aimed Glyph-based ice shot destabilized the stone pillars holding them up, and their entire troupe and the bridge they were standing on fell into the abyss. It barely used up one tenth of the Dust she had left, but her aura was running on fumes and dropped into the red, as displayed on her scroll.
This pattern repeated thrice, until no bridges were left. Her aura broke, but she was completely isolated from the forest. Completely safe. The bullheads could be no more than 10 minutes out. Weiss exhaled in relief.
Then, it all went to shit.
Out flew a flock of at least twenty juvenile Nevermores. For a moment, Weiss feared they would target the rescue bullhead, but apparently her own negative emotions were greater than the students on board it who had already been rescued. There were coming for her.
The strategic side of Weiss' brain went into overdrive.
The avian Grimm were about 30 seconds away. Nevermores of that size should be child's play to any respectable huntress, but Weiss was down a weapon and her aura. All she was running with was her meager Dust reserves and her wits.
20 seconds. With that many individual targets, there was no way to shoot down every single one of them. Besides, no aura, no semblance, no Glyphs. She was limited to chucking Dust by hand.
15 seconds. Escape was out of the question. Weiss had methodically destroyed every escape route she could've used when she collapses the bridges around her. Idiot!
10 seconds. As the Grimm drew closer, Weiss reflexively reached down to her waist for Myrtenaster, but it wasn't there. Disarmed, not enough Dust, no way out – what did she have?
5 seconds. Nothing. She had nothing. There was no way out.
0 seconds.
Weiss leapt.
The Nevermore swerved midair and changed course to go after her, but Weiss had fallen past them. She hurled all of her Ice Dust towards the cliff in front of her. The vials cracked open on impact, and the raw Dust held within ignited. Ice crystallized outwards from the ledge, and Weiss barely managed to catch one of the shards before she fell into oblivion. The sharp edge tore open a wide gash on her hand, but it was better than the alternative of certain death. Blood trickled down her arm as she hung on helplessly about two meters away from the cliff.
Two meters from safety.
The Nevermores were coming back. Weiss reached her other arm up and began to hoist herself up. To her alarm, the ice broke.
Weightlessness was all she felt for half a second before a black paw wrapped around her arm. Whatever had grabbed her decided to yank her with great force away from the precipice. She flew through the air and landed by painfully slamming into the platforms that held the relics.
Some Beowolf thing had thrown her, and it then proceeded to claw the Nevermores to shreds. The smaller birdlike Grimm never stood a chance. Tusks pierced wings as fins met beaks. When the flock was reduced to a dissolving heap of feathers, the victor turned to look at her. Weiss would never forget how those eyes locked onto her as black fluid squirted out. The Grimm got down on all fours and slowly approached her.
Weiss scrambled backwards as far as she could, but her shoulders bumped into the pedestal holding a relic. A golden knight chess piece tumbled down into her lap. It could be a joyous moment if she distracted herself from the fact that she was going to die.
"wwwww–"
The Grimm pressed its snout into her face. They were so close together that she could feel the stray droplets of liquid spray onto her cheeks out of its eyes. From her own closed eyes came tears.
Let it be quick.
"–wwwweiss"
Her eyes shot open. The Grimm stared at her.
"weiss"
She hadn't misheard. The Grimm had just spoken. It had said her name.
One of the monster's tails came forward with something shiny in its grasp. Myrtenaster's hilt, Dust chamber still intact, fell at her feet. The blade was broken off.
"Weiss."
This time, the Grimm said her name with emotion. It sounded happy, or maybe relieved. It stood back up on its hind legs and jumped over Weiss. She turned and watched it disappear into the mass of burning trees. Even when she heard someone approach her a few minutes later, she couldn't tear her eyes away from the flames.
Omake
Grimm: wwwweiss
Weiss: Allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. On behalf of my family and the institution its name represents…
Omake 2
Grimm: *drops Myrtenaster at Weiss feet*
Weiss: Good boy! *throws it* Now, fetch!
Omake 3
Weiss: I'm trapped on this tower with no means of escape!
Yang: One might say you're completely…Weissolated.
Next Chapter: Team Names – In which Cardin learns the true meaning of friendship, Russel meets the Headmaster, and Blake finally becomes part of the team.