Howdy folks, how's it going?
Gotta admit, I was really starting to wonder if I was gonna be able to get this chapter out today, what with whatever kind of fuckery that's been going in this site for the last couple of days. At least it's sorted out for now.
At any rate, as usual, shout out to Chaos Productions for his assistance with this story.
And as always, I own neither RWBY nor TES, I'm afraid a whole ass IP is a bit out of my budget even when one goes on sale.
Now, without further ado, enjoy.
/
Despite the seriousness of the situation awaiting them, the atmosphere inside the bullhead as it soared through the skies was one of surprisingly amiable conversation, if only because their Atlesian friend Penny kept animatedly chattering about every little thing that crossed her mind to a Ruby who was awkwardly smiling back, not quite used to this level of attention but far too nice to deny a friend, with the other girls occasionally being dragged in as well, or in Yang's case adding fuel to the fire with some teasing.
For his part, Tristard was content to observe from afar and consider his options for the trials ahead. Penny, near as the Dragonborn could tell, was a lovely young lady, but even more than the Headmaster's advice for him to be discreet around her, Durnehviir's words from that whole debacle in the docks popped into his mind now that he considered the girl. Considering how everyone present had been bearing arms, it seemed odd in hindsight that the dragon had singled her out for smelling of metal…
"Well, that's nice to see." A voice casually commented from his side, drawing Tristard from his thoughts and towards the other surprising addition to their little merry band, casually slumped in the seat by his side. "Ya know, I have to admit, I never doubted the little squirt would do well in Beacon even with the early entry, but I'd be lying' if I said that I wasn't mildly worried about her feeling lonely. Sure she had a few friends before, but making them was a struggle, and starting from scratch must've been nerve-wracking. Glad to see she managed just fine."
Tristard found himself giving Qrow a considering look. The huntsman's unkept appearance and lackadaisical demeanour might have seemed out of place for a man of his supposed position as an elite agent and a teacher, especially considering what they were setting out to do, but the dragonborn was not fooled in the slightest. Underneath that superficial veneer, there was the easy confidence of an experienced warrior, ready to spring to action in a moment's notice, someone who was perfectly aware of everything in their immediate surroundings even as they seemed to be almost dozing off. And as for him being a teacher… Tristard was headmaster of a college where everyone was their very own brand of maniac, he wasn't going to judge.
"Aye," He agreed with a nod. "Ruby has been doing quite well for herself. We are lucky to have her. Would that more people cared like she does."
"Ain't that the truth…" Qrow muttered, before levelling a searching, evaluating look of his own towards the Dragonborn. "So, you're the latest addition to Ozpin's corner, uh?"
Ah, yes, he supposed he should have expected some questioning on this matter.
"How much did he tell you?" He inquired in turn in a low voice, once again turning his attention towards the girls, just to make sure they could keep things as private as possible.
"Not too much, honestly, he's always been the secretive sort and all that," The raven-haired man shrugged. "Still, he's got nothing but praise for you from what little he told me, and he's not one to give praise lightly. Is it true? That Amber's awake? Oz' mentioned you played a part in that, as well as figuring out this mess we're currently in."
"She has woken up, aye. Whether there'll be any further repercussions from what befell her still remains to be seen, but she is whole again." The dragonborn confirmed, to which the other man closed his eyes, and breathed out his nose, looking as if a weight had been removed from his shoulders. "As for figuring this out, honestly, that was more on my friend and a stroke of good fortune than me. I just helped to restrain the perpetrators once they were pointed out to me."
"That's good to hear. I was the one who responded when we figured out she was being attacked, you know. Couldn't reach her fast enough to prevent whatever it was those bastards did to her… So, thanks for making up for my failure. Between then and Ozpin's trust in you, you're alright in my book." The man replied gratefully with a small sigh of relief, before once again looking at Tristard with a slight smirk on his face. "Provided I do not need to have a "concerned uncle" conversation regarding my nieces?"
…It honestly took a few moments for the Dragonborn to realize what in Oblivion the man was trying to imply.
"Sir, your nieces are lovely girls and good friends, but I have just recently entered a relationship with another of our teammates. Such conversation is quite unnecessary." He replied in a deadpan, which seemed to actually draw a chuckle out of the older man.
"Eh, right, sorry, sorry, I was mostly just joking, but I had to mention it all the same. I was a young man too once, ya know, and back in my team I was forced to watch my horndog friend get with my sister, and then with our other teammate when my sister bailed on us. Had to make sure history wasn't about to repeat itself, though at least you're not a blond bastard like he was."
While he recognized the comment was being made in good humor, Tristard made the tactical decision of not replying to it. He doubted the sisters would appreciate this sort of insight into their family situation being shared with anyone.
Conveniently, it was at that moment that the ship's comms cut it.
"Look alive, ladies and gentlemen, we are nearing the drop off point." The pilot called out. "I'd recommend you all make your final preparations, I'm seeing you off at the edge of Mountain Glenn. Afraid I can't approach much further without drawing attention from either the White Fang or the Grimm."
No one aboard needed any further prompting, all levity and banter swiftly forgotten as everyone grabbed their weapons. Glancing out the window, Tristard could see that they had been flying low to minimize the risk of detection, the woods just beneath them starting to give way to abandoned, unfinished roads, buildings larger even than what he'd seen in Vale starting to mar the horizon, as the dragonborn beheld with his own eyes the ruins of Mountain Glenn.
Not longer after, the ship was flying off, still keeping low as it retreated, having left the team in one of the myriad streets of the abandoned city. A slight pang of remembrance crossed Tristard's mind as he found himself glancing around that the empty roads and decrepit buildings. It almost felt like he was about to venture into a ruin of the Dwemer again, even if one not nearly gold enough to actually qualify. Hopefully there'd also be a lot less traps and guardian constructs involved…
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, guess it's time to get to work." Qrow said, glancing around to the students. "We got a lot of ground to cover, and little time to do it. That said, splitting up in the middle of enemy territory is a terrible idea. Stick close to each other. Ruby, you know your team best, how'd you recommend we deploy?"
"Oh, uh…" The red-cloaked girl startled, not expecting to be consulted like this, but she recovered quickly, glancing around to the others. "Well, normally, Tristard and Yang would take point, since they're our heavy hitters, with Weiss hanging back and me and Blake covering the flanks. With you two added in, I'd say it'd probably be best to switch you in Yang's place, let her cover our rear with Penny to keep anyone from sneaking up on us. And speaking of," She turned to the dragonborn. "Can you pick up anything?"
Tristard nodded, swiftly understanding what was being asked of him.
"Laas yah nir," He whispered, looking all around them before duly reporting. "We have Grimm approaching us from a northern side street and further down the main road. I see nothing else in our immediate vicinity."
Qrow couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the assessment, but sure enough, before anyone else could speak, howls and roars broke through the city's sepulchral silence, as from the pointed out directions two packs of beowolves sprang forth, charging straight at them with murderous intent.
"Uh, not bad." The man found himself commenting, casually resting his blade upon his shoulder. "Welp, guess we'll have to start with clearing these out. Try to avoid gunfire unless absolutely necessary, we're still trying to keep a low profile here."
Yang grumbled something under her breath at that, probably because she wasn't too happy at having to wait for the enemy to come to her rather than blast her way to them, but nevertheless they all took the positions suggested by Ruby. It was a good thing that the bullhead had a toilet installation, Tristard found himself musing, it had given him enough privacy to cast some defensive spells during the trip.
The charging Grimm were moments away when Gurahyol's blade ignited. The dragonborn calmly sidestepped the first beast that pounced on him and swiftly parted its head from its shoulders, before immediately lashing out with the butt of the axe against the second, caving in its skull. The third one, a runt of the pack, smaller than the rest, he braced for with a grunt, slamming his shoulder against its chest, claws and teeth failing to find purchase against his wards before the creature fell flat on its back and Gurahyol lashed out to silence the defiant roar that had been coming.
Glancing to his side, he could see Qrow, as casually as if were taking a simple stroll, walk and weave around the beasts that had gone for him, dispatching each and every one with calm and measured stabs and swings of his massive sword.
"Yep," The older man commented, sounding distinctly unbothered at the notion that monsters were trying to tear him apart. "These are all young, likely the runts of the local population, to be charging in this mindlessly. Easy pickings, but don't let your guard down."
A piece of advice that proved superfluous, as the rushing pack was systematically dismantled, as Weiss and Penny and Blake tore into them with bursts of dust, flying blades, and whipping sickle. In a few moments only stragglers remained, and before they could even realize what was happening, a speeding red blur blitzed through them, crumbling their forms to nothingness faster than the eye could see, until only Ruby was standing before them in the open road, a big smile on her face at how smoothly things had gone.
"Aright, not a bad start." Qrow commented, glancing around at the girls, looking not quite impressed, but approving. "Guess the formation works, so we might as well keep it as we head further in. Good call, squirt."
Ruby seemed to positively preen at her uncle's praise, opening her mouth to reply… only for a low rumbling to make itself heard as the ground began to shake. Before anyone could react, cracks began spreading as the road beneath them suddenly gave way, spawning a large sinkhole. Tristard and Qrow managed to just barely leap back to the edge of the newly formed crevice, a quick curse escaping the latter's lips, but Ruby had been right at the center of the collapsing road and unable to move in time, crying out in surprise as she lost her footing and fell… before a soft orange glow surrounded her and pulled her back, bringing the red-cloaked girl towards the rest of the team.
"Phew," The girl breathed out in relief as her feet touched ground again, and she immediately stepped back from the edge, and Penny and Yang were immediately by her side, checking on her. "Thanks for the save, Tristard."
"Think nothing of it." The Dragonborn replied calmly, before glancing over into the darkness that loomed beneath them, within which he could vaguely see the outlines of more buildings. "I suppose that besides Grimm and White Fang, we will have to contend with the dangers of the terrain?"
"I guess so," Qrow replied after a moment of glancing curiously at the dragonborn, sounding supremely annoyed for some reason as he moved to glare down at the whole. "Mountain Glenn was supposed to be largely center underground, so this whole area's been dug and tunneled through before it all fell apart. I guess the wear and tear of years of neglect's been taking its toll."
"Uuuh, guys," Blake called out, having stepped forth to look down as well, squinting. "I think I see movement down there…"
"More Grimm, maybe?" Weiss suggested, but before the cat faunus could reply, Penny also stepped up, reaching a finger to her ear.
"Uh, that's interesting," The redhead commented. "I wasn't picking up anything out in the surface, but I am now picking up some heavy comm static, and it's coming from down there."
The rest of the team glanced at the Atlesian girl as she said that, and Tristard did not miss how Ruby did not seem surprised or confused in the slightest by the assessment. Curious…
"…I suppose it makes sense." Qrow ultimately said, after taking a moment to consider things. "If the White Fang were planning something with the tunnels, it stands to reason that they'd be holed up underground. Guess we got lucky in a way. Get ready, kids, we're going down."
/
On the one hand, Qrow's bad luck led to an early collapse. On the other, there was someone present with the necessary skills to avoid that being a problem, so it evens out.
Next time, the team gets closer to the target and the action starts picking up a notch.
But before that, in two weeks we got the next update to 'Ere We Go, Pluz Ultra!, so look forward to that.
Cya all on the next one, stay safe and take care.