Chapter 15: Fox Hunt
In which a school field trip must recover their kidnapped damsel.
"AAAA–"
The short scream broke out through the red forest. Qrow's head snapped around and he frantically searched for his nieces. The white one…black one…c'mon, where the fuck were red and yellow?!
There, with Goodwitch, far away from where the scream came from. They were safe, thank the Brothers. Qrow exhaled deeply. Now that priority one was all cleared…who screamed?
Wait, where was that boy who wanted to go…
Shit.
"CARDIN!" hammer girl screamed in terror.
Qrow drew Harbinger and dashed up the top of the hill. Fuck, why had he let the kid wander off? Oh Dust, if this was his semblance and the boy was dead…
No body. No blood. No sign of a struggle.
"Fan out, guys!" Qrow commanded. "They can't have–"
The stocky one that looked like he could be Port's bastard son inhaled and exhaled. "Winchester is being taken that direction." He signaled the direction and breathed in heavily again. "I-It's the evolved Grimm. From initiation."
Seriously, that thing was real? Never mind. Special Grimm or not, he could kill it. He would kill it and get Cochran back. "Glynda, Peter, take the kids and go! I'll chase them down!"
"Professor Branwen, you can't!" shouted Pyrrha Nikos from the bottom of the hill. "This Grimm runs faster than any human. You won't be able to catch it no matter what speed you run."
"No matter…what speed?" asked Ruby, cocking her head.
Well, fortunately for everyone, Qrow wasn't planning on running. Qrow slid down the slope of the hill until he was just out of view of the students and morphed into a bird. In his avian form, he'd be able to get a literal bird's eye view of the forest and track the kidnapped kid from above. He flapped furiously and began to gain elevation when a familiar high pitched voice rang out from behind him. And then underneath him. And then ahead of him.
"Ludicrous speeeeeeeeeeed!"
Some kind of birdie seemed to get caught in the slipstream behind Ruby, but there was no time to worry about the local wildlife. Not when Cardin's life was on the line.
She'd left Qrow and the others behind, but her trail of petals should lead them all right to her and the Grimm. More accurately, it would lead them right to her and the statue of a Grimm. Ruby had never seen this special kind of Beowolf before. She'd have to get a photo of its leftovers on her scroll to show Yang what it looked like. Poor Yang. She would never get the chance to see it while it was alive.
Ruby was no longer following the bearing Dove had given her. She wasn't a great tracker, but even a dunce like her could follow the trail of black fluid that covered the trees. This Grimm couldn't be very smart if it was trying to flee while leaving behind such obvious clues.
Heh. Silly Ruby – no Grimm was smart!
Ruby saw them after about 30 seconds of running. She sprinted past them and dug Crescent Rose into the soil, using it to pivot around and face the Grimm and Cardin.
Cardin, I guess. My friends. Weapons. Beacon.
Silver eyes opened, and a luminous blast of energy enveloped both of them. Cardin was unaffected, but the Grimm stumbled and fell. Direct hit! The tails that were wrapped around Cardin released him, and the boy fell onto the red grass.
"You okay?" Ruby inquired.
Cardin nodded dizzily. Satisfied, Ruby inspected her handiwork and pulled out her scroll for the perfect shot.
Huh. All the Grimm she'd ever silver-eyed before usually turned into a gray stone, but this one was covered in a pale white. Maybe evolved Grimm turned into some kinda marble or limestone?
The white glow that covered the Grimm faded, and its usual black coloring returned. Weird – no Grimm had ever survived her silver eyeballs before. Maybe this one needed a double. Ruby focused all her power into her eyes, just to make sure.
Cardin. Beacon. My home. My team.
Silver eyes flared once more, and the Grimm became the pale milky color again. Then, the color was washed away in a static-like fade. Ruby, exhausted and struggling to remain standing upright, noticed that it seemed less like petrification and more like…
Aura. It has aura.
"Hit it again!" suggested Cardin.
"It's not working!" exclaimed Ruby. Crescent Rose switched into sniper mode. "But I'm not done yet."
Ruby aimed for the head and began to rain bullets upon the enemy. The Grimm raised its arms to defend itself, fins flaring outwards. Cardin raised his mace and ran screaming towards the Grimm while Ruby's fire forced it to back away. A blunt strike of his nearly collided with the monster's legs, but it sprang into the treetops before Cardin could knock it down.
Ruby kept firing, but the Grimm wasn't moving in a straight line. It jumped from branch to branch in an erratic pattern, ducking left and swooping right with exceptional agility. She knew that it was slowly circling towards her, but she didn't need to kill it. All she needed to do was hold on. Uncle Qrow was on the way.
The creature broke past her cover fire and shot towards her. Ruby zoomed backwards, and the paw that would've clipped her shoulder struck rose petals. Cardin's mace slammed into the creature's head, and its aura took the hit. He tried to pull his mace free, but the Grimm's upper cranial tusks had hooked through the weapon's flanges. Ruby seized the opportunity to push herself forward with a sniper shot and sever one of the monster's tails.
The Grimm roared as it shook its head in agony. Cardin was knocked away and crashed into a tree, his aura visibly dropping. Ruby tried to add a second tail to the one currently disintegrating on the floor, but the Grimm slashed wildly at her with its razor fins in a frenzy. She watched as it reached up to its head, grabbed the handle of the mace, and pulled. Both cranial tusks snapped off. Screeches of pain echoed throughout Forever Fall. The creature bent forward, and its aura began to rapidly flicker. To Ruby's amazement, new tusks burst out of the splintered stumps where the tusk used to be. A replacement tail sprouted out at base of the monstrosity's back.
It knows how to heal with aura.
"What's next with you, a semblance? Team GRMM? A hunter's weapon?" Ruby angrily asked.
SCHWING!
A second scythe nearly decapitated the Grimm as Qrow fell out the sky. Metal rang out as Harbinger was countered by Cardin's mace before it could deliver the death blow. Qrow looked just as surprised as Ruby by the black tail holding the mace.
Me and my big mouth.
At least this time Cardin was awake. He was unarmed and in the red, but he managed to stay conscious today, unlike the Emerald Forest. Ruby and Professor Branwen dueled the Grimm, but they were losing ground. A fin deflected a scythe, and tusks battered Ruby. Tails wrapped around Branwen's legs, and a mace hammered into his stomach. With Cardin's mace and its natural defenses, the Grimm had just too many weapons. The worst part was that it seemed to be better at using the Executioner than Cardin was.
…red…anger…Cardin wasn't sure, but something was tingly. He could barely move after being dragged around the forest like a ragdoll then smacked into a tree, but something was feeling…different.
Ruby battered the monster with her scythe, but it tanked the hits and wrapped two tails around her throat. She was slammed into the ground, then again, and again, and again. Rosy red aura flickered away with each hit until it broke. The girl crumbled into a heap as a tail wrapped around her scythe.
Cardin knew they were all going to die. Branwen was a fuckin' animal with his weapon, blocking hit after hit, but he couldn't keep up with everything. Tails, scythes, fins, maces, tusks…
He really should retreat and leave us to die, Cardin thought. Huh, when did I become so selfless all of a sudden? My weirdo team must be getting to me.
But the professor refused to leave his students undefended. He did seem to have some spurts of luck here or there – a random burst of wind pushed some leaves into the Grimm's sticky eyes, a well-placed tree branch tripped it – but it wasn't enough. Branwen switched his weapon to a sword and stabbed at the Grimm's torso. It blocked with Ruby's scythe and lost its grip. The red scythe went flying away, but two tails wrapped around the professor's sword. They pulled back and ripped Branwen's own blade out of his hands.
The Grimm has enough weapons that it can afford to lose one to disarm the professor of his only sword. Cardin made a mental note to visit the forges and make some kind of backup weapon so he was never in a similar situation as Branwen. Maybe a spiked club or – wait, never mind. They were all going to die.
Suddenly, a flash of pink shot into the fray. Queen of the Castle Nora propelled herself forward with a blast from her grenade launcher and headbutted straight into the Grimm's upper tusks. Oh fuck, that had to hurt…
…for the Grimm.
Two sickles landed into trees behind the Grimm like grappling hooks, and Ren pulled himself forward. He delivered a powerful kick to the Grimm's exposed stomach and backflipped onto the ground in front of it.
Professor Branwen looked panicked. "Get out of here, you stupid fucking–"
"Not gonna happen," chirped the team leader. "We're taking back our Cardin!"
"Sorry, professor," said Ren. "Queen's orders."
Sky jogged out from the forest and bent over, gasping for breath. "You -guuuuh- guys," he huffed. "Wait for me next time. Man, I really outta have put some sorta hoverboard mod or rocket booster into Arson." He flourished his torch weakly and wheezed. "Prepare to eat fire, Grimm. -gaaaasp- You're in for it now."
Queen of the Castle Nora took charge of the situation. "Teach, Malarky, you two get Cardy and Ruby out of here. We'll hold off the Grimm!"
"How'd you kiddos even get past from Goodwitch and Port?"
"They tried to stop us, so I asked Team Adventure and Team Ainbow to distract them while we came to save your butts!"
"Ainbow?"
"Rainbow without the Ruby!"
The Grimm now held Cardin's and Branwen's weapons, but not Ruby's. Even Team Astle – dammit – even Team Castle wasn't going to be enough to kill it, but they could cover a retreat.
Queen of the Castle Nora and Ren stood between the fallen hunters and their adversary while Sky helped Cardin to his feet. Professor Branwen picked Ruby up off the ground and handed her to the two boys.
"Take care of my niece," he demanded. "I'm not all out of fight yet." The scruffy-looking man collected Ruby's discarded scythe and joined the remainder of Team Castle. The two had their guns trained on the Grimm, but it did not approach. Instead, it just kept staring at them with those nightmarish eyes. Maybe it was trying to figure out a strategy against them. Maybe it was waiting for its aura to recharge. Maybe it knew they were all screwed and was toying with them for shits and giggles.
"Hello again. Old friends."
Professor Branwen was taken aback, but the students knew this Grimm's game and didn't budge. Ren shot his teammates a glance and decided to play this one out. At the very least, he'd buy some time for the others to flee.
"What kind of Grimm are you? How do you have aura?"
"Do not call me a Grimm. I am no mere thoughtless beast."
"Then what are you?"
"I myself am not sure." The Grimm's jaw seemed to crack into a chilling smile. "Perhaps we could find out together, human." Ren had to pour the fear that came to him into his semblance to avoid freezing up.
Nora interjected. "Just let us take Cardin and we can all go our separate ways."
"I cannot do that."
"You're outnumbered."
"And you're outgunned." Another unholy smile.
Nora grinned. "How about we test that hypothesis?" She pointed her grenade launcher at the Grimm. "You're a toughie, but you're not invincible. I cut off your tusk in the Emerald Forest. Whaddaya think I'll cut off today? Maybe an arm? Or what about your shriveled up Grimm dick?"
"I do not seek to spill any innocent blood, but I cannot allow the boy…Cardin, was it?…to survive. Leave him and I shall allow the rest of your forces to withdraw. You have my word."
Cardin paled, but Ren shifted to stand between the Grimm and his teammate. He'd lost enough friends and family for one lifetime. No more.
Sky seemed to read his mind. "Like we'd ever trust the word of a Grimm! We won't let you kill Cardin."
"I told you, I am not Grimm," it growled furiously. "If he harms her, there will be consequences! Hundreds of thousands will die!"
Ren cocked his head. "Harms her? Who is 'her'?"
"Me."
Out of the thicket, Weiss Schnee emerged from behind the weary group of fighters. Ren wasn't sure what she was doing here, but he was certainly glad to have the backup. The heiress walked to the two boys carrying Ruby and looked over her defeated teammate.
"Your leader's okay," offered Sky, unsure of what to make of Weiss' presence.
Satisfied, Weiss turned back to the not-Grimm and held up a jar in her hands. "I figured it out when I saw this." Ren could make out some sort of yellow powder inside.
"For Weiss Schnee," she read. Cardin seemed like he was ready to pass out.
"You protected me from the Nevermores at the Emerald Forest. And now you're trying to protect me from Cardin Winchester?"
"Yes."
"WHAT?" exclaimed Professor Branwen. And Sky. And Ren. And…actually, Nora remained silent.
"Why me?" Weiss calmly asked.
"I…cannot tell you."
The heiress straightened up. Ren checked both hands to make sure he wasn't accidentally using his semblance on her, given her lack of nerves. "As you can see, I'm perfectly safe. Cardin's…childish behavior is no threat to my health."
Nora chimed in. "Cardin put it down. He was gonna throw the stuff, but he put it down." Cardin looked like he wanted to curl up into a ball and die.
She…knew? Ren felt his absolute trust in Nora waver, if only for a moment. If only his semblance could eat away something like doubt.
The not-Grimm shook its tusked head. "I'm afraid I cannot take that risk. The life of one human boy is inconsequential compared to all that could be lost if you are wrong."
Weiss drew her pickaxe. "Well, I'd hate to use this against you after you went and returned the Dust chamber at its heart. But I can't stand idly by as Cardin dies in my name, be he a scoundrel or not. Do you really think that you can stand against us all?"
"You are still outmatched. One extra huntress will not turn the tide of this battle."
"Do you think you can fight that one extra huntress without harming her?" asked Weiss.
The not-Grimm stood motionless for what was probably the tensest minute of Ren's life. The only sound in all of Forever Fall was faint splashing as ooze dropped from its eye to leaves on the forest floor. Then, it released Professor Branwen's scythe. Ren exhaled the breath he'd been holding in.
"Very well. But remember this, Cardin Winchester. The next time you seek to harm Weiss Schnee…"
It threw Cardin's mace at the petrified boy's feet.
"…I know your face."
With that, the not-Grimm turned and vanished into Forever Fall.
Omake
Ren: We'll stop you, Grimm!
Not-Grimm: Do not call me Grimm.
Qrow: If you don't want to go by Grimm, how about we call you Grames? Or would be be Grimmothy?
Next Chapter: The Song of Student and Teacher – In which Professor Goodwitch lays down the law, and Headmaster Ozpin lays down on a bench.