Mountain Glenn

AN: First it was longer than I thought, now it's shorter... Oh well, nothing I can do about that.

It was night at Beacon. And every student that have yet to depart for their missions or have returned were now sleeping. But among those people, the Atlesian general was up. Looking over the city of Vale from one of Beacon's air pads.

"Having trouble sleeping?" Asked Glynda who had just arrived. Having seen the general move outside from her room not too long ago.

"The arm is acting up." Ironwood responded as he rubbed his right arm with his left hand.

"Oh, sure. Which is why you decided to get out of bed, dress yourself completely, and then stare menacingly into the horizon." Glynda pointed out, before adopting a little more worried look, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just…," Ironwood said, trailing off with a sigh, "I've trusted Ozpin for years now, but I can't help feeling that he's…keeping us in the dark."

Glynda shook her head at that. "Don't be ridiculous! There's no way Ozpin would hide anything from us." Glynda chastised the general, "You must remember that we're not the ones in the dark."

"That just makes it worse." Ironwood argued, "I just refuse to believe that the man I've trusted would act so…passively."

"Ozpin has the experience that we all lack. You should remember that." Glynda said as she placed a reassuring hand on Ironwood's shoulder. "So please, stop talking about trust and start showing it." the professor wasn't even really scolding.

"I suppose," Ironwood replied, even though he wasn't convinced. "Though, that's not all that worries me." The worry in the general's voice made Glynda raise an eyebrow.

"Really? What else is bothering you?"

Ironwood hesitated, unsure of if this was significant or not. "...The titan has been sighted in Mistral." Ironwood finally answered.

Now this widened Glynda's eyes. Ironwood had mentioned that he would keep his men on look-out for the titan, but last they heard, the creature had left Solitas. Eradicating any Grimm in its path. "Where?" was the simple question Glynda could think of.

"It flew over the city itself just two hours ago," Ironwood said clearly unhappy about the next part, "Unfortunately, the Mistral's airships thought they were dealing with a camouflaged Grimm, so they opened fire on it."

Now Glynda was worried. That creature was able to destroy several giant Nevermores with ease. Who knows what it could do to a city. "How did it respond?"

"...The titan returned fire upon the ships." Ironwood said, clenching his fists. "Then it moved away from the city. Unfortunately, the creature caused the citizens to panic when it destroyed those ships, and we both know what is attracted to panic."

"The Grimm." Glynda said in a grim tone.

Ironwood let out a sigh. "The city is still under siege, but the latest report says that the troops I've stationed there along with Mistralian huntsmen are already pushing the Grimm back." At the last part, Ironwood sounded hopeful.

"That's good at least." Glynda said with a sigh, "But why was the titan there? And where is it now?"

"I'm still waiting for more information about the situation." Ironwood said as he moved to look towards the general location of Mistral. "Though, what I'm concerned about is that the huntsmen and huntresses of Mistral who had Blades are reported to have grown stronger since then."

"Adenine did say that the titan spreads ether into the atmosphere by simply existing." Glynda pointed out, before adopting a thoughtful look, "I wonder how long it will take for the whole planet to be covered in ether?"

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing," Ironwood sighed. He honestly wasn't sure how long their cover story for the existence of Blades would hold. Some of them were asking questions about Remnant or mentioning things about Alrest. Ironwood tried to explain it as a "glitch" in their system, but even he thought that wasn't very convincing. How long would it be until the truth came out?

Back in Mountain Glenn, Ruby was scoping the immediate area around the building they had set up camp with. The reticle of Crescent Rose's scope soon found itself staring at a lone beowolf that seemed to be looking back at Ruby, but the Grimm moved on.

Ruby sighed a little at not getting to shoot an attacking Grimm, but she went back to looking out the area anyway.

Meanwhile the other three huntresses in training were sleeping on their bedrolls around the fire, while their Blades were each in a different part of the building. Dahlia was resting with her back towards Weiss, right next to the heiress. Dragunov was in the same spot he had sat upon, light rumbling coming out of him. Zwei was of course still perched next to the furnace that was Dragunov's body. Nox was resting in the shadows out of anyone's sight, but everyone knew he was a light sleeper, so they weren't worried about him sleeping through any kind of disaster. Roze had laid himself down, using his cape as a makeshift pillow. Lastly, Oobleck was on an upper level that overlooked the rest of the camp, sleeping in a sitting position, leaning against Adenine who was leaning back. Although Adenine also had one arm around her Driver.

It seemed like a quiet night, all things considered. Except Yang opened her eyes, having been unable to sleep for some time now. "Blake, you awake?" The busty blonde whispered towards the cat faunus who's back was toward her right now.

"…Yeah." Blake replied quietly

"Why do you think Oobleck asked us about being a huntress?" Yang asked her partner.

"Maybe he was just curious." Blake suggested.

"You really think that?" Yang said back as she shifted to her side to face the cat faunus.

"...No."

That earned a sigh out of Yang, who then turned her head into Weiss' direction. "Weiss, you awake?"

"Yes, I am. You two are talking." Weiss whispered, not wanting to disturb Dahlia. Anyway, Weiss then decided to try and answer, "And I think he…when I said I wanted to uphold my family's honor, I meant it. But there's more than that. I know that ever since my father took over the company, we've operated in a…moral gray area." Weiss was clearly uncomfortable admitting that.

"That's putting it mildly." Blake said, but she didn't feel particularly angry or even annoyed at Weiss.

With that comment, Weiss sat up. "Which is why I feel the need to make things right. If I had taken a job in Atlas, it wouldn't have changed anything. My father wasn't the start of our name, and I refuse to let him be the end of it." You could hear the determination in Weiss' voice as she spoke her mind.

Blake let out a sigh as she decided to open up too. "All my life I've fought for what I thought was right. I had a partner…more like a mentor, Adam. He kept reassuring me that what we did would make the world a better place. But it turned out that what he envisioned wasn't better for everyone." Blake explained as she turned on her back to look at the ceiling. "I joined the academy because I heard that huntsmen and huntresses are the most noble warriors on the planet. But…after graduating, I never really thought past that. How can I undo so many years of hate?" At the last part, Blake sounded as lost as she felt.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out." Yang said consolingly, "You're not one to back from a challenge, Blake."

"But I am!" Blake exclaimed, "I do it all the time. When you guys found out I'm a faunus I didn't know what to do so I ran! When I realized my oldest partner had turned into a monster I ran! Even my semblance is a reflection of this, I leave an empty copy of myself to take the hit while I run."

A moment of silence was followed by Blake's admission. Until Yang let out a sigh, "At least you two have something that drives you." Then the blonde turned on her stomach. "I've just…always gone with the flow. I wanna be a huntress, not because I wanna be a hero…but because I want the adventure." Yang then propped her head into her hand. "I'm not like Ruby. She's always wanted to be a huntress. Just like she said, she wants to be the defender of those who can't defend themselves." And then Yang shifted her gaze towards Dragunov. "And now…I have Dragunov looking forward to me unlocking his power but…I don't know if I'm ready for it." At the last part, Yang sounded worried.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked, "I thought you two were best friends now."

Yang chuckled at that, "I guess." But then she took a serious expression, "But…when he used Burning Rage…I felt proud, because I knew that I had helped him reach it. Now…I think I'm a little afraid of his full power. I mean…what if I use it for the wrong reasons?" At the last part, Yang felt her heart constrict at the thought of accidentally unleashing Dragunov's might against Ruby by accident.

"You're not like that Yang." Blake said reassuringly, "If anything you would make sure that it never comes to that."

"Thanks, Blake." Yang said, feeling much better at the cat faunus sounding so sure.

"Blake…thanks for being a faunus." Weiss then said, catching both of the other girls off guard.

"Uhhh…why are you thanking me for that?" Blake asked uncertainly.

"For both opening my eyes…and making it easier to accept Dahlia." Weiss said, feeling a little ashamed for admitting that. "I mean…I don't think Dahlia even really classifies as a faunus, but…I feel that she's one of the best things that ever happened to me." At the latter sentence, Weiss turned to face Dahlia's back with a grateful smile.

Blake and Yang both felt like smiling at Weiss saying something like that. "Well…since we're talking about our Blades, I still feel a little bad for hurting Nox when I was…obsessed." Blake said as she tried to search for the dark ninja with her eyes. But even a faunus' night vision doesn't help locating the Blade. "I mean…he's always looking out for me…putting me first and himself second." The ninja kitty let out a sigh at admitting that. Honestly, Nox turned out not to be the fantasy she had had about ninjas, but Blake honestly thought that her Blade is something much better. If only he didn't see himself beneath her.

Weiss looked like she had a realization as she turned back to face her team mates. "As huntresses, we're supposed to do the same for the people." Weiss said resolutely.

"It's the life we chose." Blake added in.

"Yeah…considering we're all in a warzone." Yang said humorously.

Unbeknownst to them, Oobleck was smiling as he heard the conversation. The eccentric teacher felt some pride at the girls figuring out at least partially what being a huntress is about. But then the doctor felt his heart race as Adenine snuggled closer against him. Oobleck had to agree with Weiss about one thing. Just like with the Schnee heiress and Dahlia, Adenine was the best thing that happened to him. Not just because he gained a new powerful weapon, but because he gained what is essentially a soul mate. Or that's how Oobleck feels.

Oobleck wasn't the only one listening in. Dahlia had a smile on her face which wasn't there few moments ago. Dragunov's lips had curved upwards from Yang being afraid of misusing his power. And in the shadows, a certain ninja swore he would slay Adam for hurting Blake. She may have not said it, but Nox felt the undertone of fear and sadness when Blake mentioned her former partner. For Nox, that was good enough reason to have this "Adam's" head.

Sometime later, Ruby switched watch with Yang. Funnily enough, for an instant Ruby entertained the thought of sleeping next to Roze but decided against it. After all, it was warmer next to the fire that was now reduced into embers.

Ruby didn't get to sleep long when she felt something wet against her cheek. Ruby opened her eyes blearily to see Zwei panting quietly in front of her. "Zwei, it's late get back to bed." Ruby whined sleepily as she prepared to sleep again. Only to see Zwei run outside. "Zwei. Zwei!" But the red reaper's calling fell on deaf ears. Looking around, Ruby saw the rest of her team sleeping, minus Yang who was on the watch, but she didn't seem to hear Ruby or Zwei.

Grumbling a little, Ruby picked up Crescent Rose before going after the runaway dog. All the while both Roze and Pochi slept without any knowledge of their Drivers going outside without them.

"Zwei." Ruby called out, peeking from the entrance to the building they made camp in. "Zwei where are you!?" Ruby called out again, only to have her eyes fall on the corgi relieving himself on an inactive lamp post. "Zwei, were in the middle of a wasteland. You could've literally done that anywhere." Ruby chided the corgi. Even though it only showed how well trained he was. Zwei barked once as he moved towards his owner, which prompted Ruby to pick him up.

"What was that?" asked a voice Ruby didn't recognize. Which prompted her to quickly find a corner to hide behind and peek at the direction the voice came from. And there were two White Fang grunts armed with guns standing on a crossroads.

"What was what?" Asked the other grunt from his partner who no doubt asked the first question.

"I thought I heard a beowolf or something." The first grunt said unsurely.

The other grunt sighed loudly, "Let's just finish our patrol and get back to base." With that, the two moved on. With Ruby following them as stealthily as she possibly could.

After walking for some time, the grunts stopped after turning a corner, with Ruby following them. Thankfully she was far enough for them to not notice, which gave the red reaper enough time to retreat behind the corner.

And just in time too since the two grunts chose that moment to turn around. "This place gives me the creeps." the first grunt said having felt that something was watching them.

"Let's just get into the base now." the other grunt grumbled as they moved on.

"Did they go in yet?" Ruby asked Zwei, holding the corgi out enough for him to see what was going on, "One bark means yes."

After a few moments, a door was heard closing, barely audible to Ruby, but clear for Zwei. Evidenced by the one bark he let out immediately.

With that, Ruby put Zwei down. "Oh, this is it! This is it!" Ruby whisper-yelled in excitement. Fishing out her scroll to call the rest of the team. Except the signal was too low for a call to connect. "Oh, great." Ruby grumbled before starting to move back towards the camp.

*CRACK*

"What!?" Ruby exclaimed, looking down at the ground which had sunk a little and cracked. And then it gave out, with Ruby and Zwei falling in. Except, Ruby managed to grab the edge with one arm, and Zwei with the other. Acting fast, Ruby threw Zwei back up to a more stable ground before trying to climb herself. Unfortunately, the patch of concrete she was holding onto gave out and she fell in as she shouted, "ZWEI! GET HELP!"

The corgi looked down into the hole the red reaper fell into with a whimper, before scampering off the get the others.

Down in the hole, Ruby fell in what looked like the roof of a large building. And when the girl got up fully, she bore witness to what looked like an underground city. Unfortunately, she Ruby didn't have time to marvel at the sight as the door to this roof opened to let two White Fang grunts in.

"Freeze!" A White Fang grunt shouted, pointing his gun at her.

"Where did she come from?" The other asked also training her gun on Ruby.

The poor girl tried to back up, only to realize she was at the edge of a roof. Ruby reached behind her back only to realize with terror that Crescent Roze wasn't there. Looking around frantically, Ruby could only conclude that she dropped her weapon above ground.

As Ruby realized the terrifying situation she was in, one of the grunts grabbed her arm. "Hands off!" Ruby cried out, punching the grunt in the gut. Unfortunately, unlike Yang, Ruby isn't very good at hand to hand fighting, so the punch didn't seem to even register with the grunt.

The grunt responded by punching Ruby back, knocking her down on the ground. "The boss will wanna see this one." the other grunt said, before Ruby got kicked in the face. Effectively knocking her out.

Back in the camp, Yang had gotten up to wake up Blake for her watch.

"RUBY!" Only to get startled by Roze getting up with that shout. Which seemed to startle everyone else awake too.

"What's the big idea, Rosy?" Dragunov grumbled in annoyance at his sleep being interrupted.

"Ruby! Where's Ruby!?" Roze shouted frantically as he looked around the camp, not seeing Ruby anywhere, "Something hurt her!"

At that part, Yang was fully alert once again. "WHAT!?" Also glancing at the spot Ruby had slept in to find it empty.

Nox came out of the shadows looking around the camp before sticking his head outside. "Wherever Ruby is, it's not nearby." Nox showed on his scroll, still scanning the surrounding area.

Weiss and Dahlia also got up off their sleeping position. Dahlia patted her braid-like ears to get dirt off of it.

At that moment, Zwei had gotten to the camp, frantically barking at everyone.

"What is it, Zwei?" Yang asked the dog.

"Slow down, Boss. I can't understand what you're saying." Pochi said as he walked towards his Driver. With that, Zwei barked slightly less frantically. "Boss says, Ruby fell into a hole." Pochi translated for everyone.

"A hole!?" Asked Oobleck, who had gotten down from his sleeping spot, followed by Adenine.

"Where!?" Yang asked, getting very worried. "Show us!"

With that, command, Zwei ran back outside with everyone following. Except Adenine who decided to gather their things and come after them. After all, it would be wasteful to leave all of this stuff here. Besides, she can use her Resonance to track Oobleck when she decides to catch up.

"Ruby's scythe!" Yang exclaimed as they saw the hole Zwei must've been…talking about, with Crescent Rose right at the edge of it.

Zwei gave a series of barks. "Boss says, Ruby fell here." Pochi translated as he glanced into the hole.

"Of course! Of course, of course, OF COURSE!" Oobleck exclaimed as he started pacing back and forth frantically. "How could I have been so STUPID!?"

"What is it, Doctor?" Blake asked, getting worried. Only to get startled by Oobleck getting a little too close to her face for comfort.

"Mountain Glenn!" Oobleck exclaimed. "Yes! An expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by creatures of Grimm." Then Oobleck moved in front of Yang's face. "Previously home to thousands of people." Then back into Blake's face. "Working people commuting to the city. The main city-" As Oobleck once again switched to increasingly uncomfortable looking Yang, Nox was about ready to shut him up if Dahlia hadn't grabbed his hand and shaken her head in negative. "-developed a subway system to the inner city." And then he switched to Weiss. "Grimm attacks increase. Population now in danger, now desperately searching for a shelter." Once again switching to Blake, "City evacuates into metro tunnels. And what do they find!?" And then Oobleck switched to Zwei of all people, earning a mildly concerned look from both Dahlia and Dragunov. "The South-east Quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves."

"Doc, what're you saying?" Yang asked, desperately trying to make sense of this borderline mad historian's rambling.

"Yang." Adenine said, having caught up with them during Oobleck's ramblings. "We're not just looking for an underground crime network." the book lady said as she adjusted the backpack to better accommodate her…missing body parts.

Then Oobleck grabbed Yang's shoulders. "We're looking for an UNDERGROUND CRIME NETWORK!"

"They've been working in caves?" Blake was the first to catch on.

"No, no. Mountain Glenn was Vale's first attempt at serious expansion. It worked for a short period of time thanks to an aggressive perimeter defense and unique transportation. The city developed an elaborate subway system to transport the citizens safely from the new territory to the main city. Sadly, without the natural barriers that Vale possesses, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start." Oobleck motormouthed, complete with elaborate gestures at parts of his speech.

"If I understand right, this 'subway system' you speak of is where that hole leads to and that's where the White Fang are. Am I correct?" Nox shoved his scroll into Oobleck's face before the doctor could continue.

"Precisely." Adenine spoke up, having moved next to her Driver to see the text. "As a last-ditch effort for survival, the citizen took shelter beneath the city. Inside the caves that had been cleared out for the subway system." the book Blade explained as she looked down in the hole.

"I don't care about the details." Roze said with a look of determination in his empty white eyes. "The point is, Ruby is currently down there and she needs help NOW!" That last one was shouted into the teacher Blade-Driver combo's faces.

"He's not wrong." Dragunov said as he summoned his talons, "The sooner we go in, the sooner we can save her." Yang prepared Ember Celica, ready to jump in herself.

Zwei barked resolutely. "Boss agrees with the stone lizard." Pochi translated, earning a raised eyebrow from the said stone lizard.

Oobleck looked mildly depressed at not being allowed to go into more detail "If Ruby is really down there." Oobleck then said as he brought out his thermos, which turned into a club, "Then we must find her!"

With that, the gang jumped in, Roze taking the lead as he used his Resonance to pinpoint Ruby's location.

Speaking of the red reaper, she was regaining consciousness as the two goons were dragging her to who knows where by her arms. It didn't take long for Ruby to remember her situation, but that wasn't the worst of it. The worst of it, was that they were using Atlesian Paladins to do the heavy lifting. In one of the train cars they passed, a pair of faunus were arguing about what looked like a bomb. And finally, several White Fang goons paired with Common Blades. Male types, female types, brutes, even at least one animal type similar to Pochi.

Ruby would've looked around more, except they had finally stopped. "Hey boss! There's something you should see here!" One grunt spoke up.

"Is it good or bad, Perry?" Answered a voice from a train car. A voice that Ruby unfortunately recognized. "Because let me tell you, I've had a day." the voice sounded highly annoyed.

"Ummm…It's a little girl." the Faunus, apparently named Perry replied back.

After that, Roman Torchwick peeked outside to see what this was about. "That…would be bad." Roman said as he took his cigar out of his mouth and tapped it.

AN: And there we go. Action is about to commence very soon. I have big plans for the next two chapters. Muhhahhahhaaaa!

Anyway, Blades can sense the physical condition of their Drivers, which is why Roze was able to wake up when Ruby got knocked out. And yeah, Roze is more interested in saving his Driver than the full history of Mountain Glenn.

And please look forward to seeing how much the White Fang Blades affect what will happen.