Ping!
Jaune looked over as a screen buzzed into life next to him, and he was moving before he even realised it, with Ren hot on his tail, and even eventually overtaking him, thanks to Stormflower's higher speed.
They both knew what the signal meant, having had the different beeps and symbols beaten into their heads for the last 3 weeks by Professor Greene. This was the 'call for help' signal, the one that was given when they were in a fight and couldn't focus enough to manually contact each other, and needed assistance.
He hoped that Ruby was just using this one as a convenient 'We found the Grimm' button, and that Ruby and Blake were totally fine, but it wasn't worth the risk to take their time. Even if everyone was as good or better than Ren in the simulators when it came to a real Ark, this was a real Grimm. He was 100% sure that they would be scarier, and tougher, than anything a computer could conjure.
Turning his vision over to his partner, he noticed that Ren had started to slow his Ark down to match him, but Jaune shook his head, sending a message to the other boy. [Stormflower is faster than Crocea Arca, so you go ahead. If they've found the Grimm, we need to get them their backup as soon as we can. Don't worry, I'll be right behind you!]
He saw the brief hesitation on Ren's face, but the boy didn't say a word as he got over it and nodded. A second later, Stormflower shot forward again, leaving Crocea Arca in the dust, both figuratively and literally, as the Ark's intense speed kicked up debris.
Crocea Arca took it like a champ, however, with the sensors automatically adjusting around the cloud of dirt and stone and other materials, keeping Jaune's vision mostly clear as he followed in Ren's footsteps, stepping to the left slightly to get out of the cloud, before continuing his run towards Ruby's signal.
He could feel his Aura practically singing as he readied his sword and shield, the sounds of combat growing closer and closer. 'Alright, Jaune. It's time to step up and show your teammates, show Beacon, that you deserve to be here, that you deserve your spot as the leader of Fireteam Jasper.'
Even with his excitement adding fuel to the fire that was his nerves, he took a deep, shaky breath. He could do this. This was why he was here, to fight Grimm. He had to do this. And as he finally crested the hill, and saw the rest of Fireteam Jasper fighting already…
He charged forward, right into the heart of the fight.
Yang felt the impact of the Grimm's tail on the 'stomach' area of Ember Cilicia's chassis through her Aura and grinned to herself as she ignored the phantom pain, slamming a Dragon Fist into the side of the Grimm.
It rocked to the side under the force of her strike, but it stabilised itself using its massively long, prehensile tail, before rapidly spinning and using the said tail as a club to create space and get Yang to back off.
Yang tanked the blow by crossing her Ark's arms, letting the impact seep into her Semblance as she let the Grimm push her back slightly, just enough that the amount of damage her Semblance absorbed was at her upper limit before it overpowered it. It was a technique that took a lot of experience to pull off, and most people didn't even notice she did it, but it was the bit of her training she was most proud of.
As she let herself get pushed back, she saw the Dust rounds of Crescent Rose and the artillery of Myrtenaster pepper the other side of the Grimm, as Gambol Shroud ducked under the tail-swipe, stabbing her Ark's blade into the hip area, and Yang could see the idea in Blake's head.
Unfortunately, the Grimm didn't take kindly to her attempt to remove its limb, and its tail came to wrap around Gambol Shroud before any of them could react, moving to crush the Ark, only for its tail to coil over itself as Gambol Shroud faded out of existence, appearing a few dozen meters away.
Yang glanced over at the screen that was tracking all of Fireteam Jasper's Aura levels and saw Blake's Aura drop by almost 40%. Luckily, it also noted that her hull integrity was at 97%, and the Ark's reactor was still operating at maximum.
Blake appeared on her, and presumably all of their screens, a frustrated look on her face as she took deep breaths. [I'm going to have to talk with the technicians when we get back, it's harder to use my Semblance than I thought it would be. I might only have one or two more escapes like that in me before I'm out.]
Yang sent a haymaker to the side of the Grimm's head as it tried to lunge at her as she sent Blake a massive grin at that, motioning towards herself with her head. [Then come fight near me, and I'll intercept the stuff coming your way!]
She saw the girl nod and heard the confirmation from the other two girls of Fireteam Jasper as Gambol Shroud backed off from the fight momentarily and started to give the Grimm a wide berth, moving to stand behind Ember Cilicia.
Yang was glad to be a helpful teammate, and she was genuine when she offered to intercept attacks headed in her fellow melee combatant's direction, but… Her fighting style revolved around taking hits, albeit glancing ones.
That meant she was kinda on a timer.
[62% Hull Integrity] - [74% Aura]
Like, an actual, semi-literal timer on how much longer her Aura, as well as the Ark's armour, was gonna hold out. She was good for right now, but if she was forced to cover everyone for the rest of the fight…
Spotting an attack, she swung her forearm down, parrying the Grimm's tail as it tried to grab at her. As it was sent downward, it tried to grab at Ember Cilicia's leg, so Yang lifted it and stomped on its tail, causing a roar of pain from the Grimm, who yanked it back and back off slightly as Ruby and Weiss sent another volley its way.
Her breathing, and her Aura, were more strained than she would have liked. With her team alongside her, playing the tank like this was sort of her job, with her Semblance and how her Ark was designed, but it still sucked.
She was more of an off-tank, anyway. So where was their 'full tank'-
BAM!
Yang blinked as something slammed into the side of the Grimm, wondering if she had somehow summoned Jaune with her thoughts, only to realise that it was Ren who had arrived, blades forming from the knuckles of Stormflower as he stabbed into the Grimm, his entire Ark now a monochrome grey.
The Grimm screeched at the sudden attack, clearly not having noticed that Ren was moving towards it thanks to his Semblance. Stormflower pulled its blades out of the Grimm and dodged backwards as its tail swung towards the source of the new pain, only just sliding out of the way.
[Everyone alright?]
Yang was too focused on keeping the biting attacks of the Grimm focused on her to respond, but Weiss was far back enough that she could respond, her crisp voice coming through the comms as Ren's Ark added him to the group call.
[Mostly fine on armour, and no Aura failures yet. Yang is the closest due to tanking hits. Where is Arc?]
Yang winced slightly at the biting tone Weiss-cream spoke that last bit with, chuckling to herself. Something was going on there, and she was all sorts of curious to find out.
[His Ark is likely the slowest among us, but he was right behind me. He should be here momentarily]
Weiss huffed, mumbling something to herself, but that was good enough for Yang. She knew that the Chief had a weirdly huge amount of Aura, so she was plenty willing to tag out on the 'main tank' role when he arrived. Until then…
[Blake, duck!]
Gambol Shroud had been going for a slash at the Grimm's ankle, in an attempt to bring it down, but it seemed to have realised what she was going for, sending its grasping tail to intercept. Yang burst forward as Gambol Shroud immediately dropped to the ground as per her warning, jumping over the friendly Ark and grabbing the tail with her dragon-fist-claw-things.
The Grimm roared at her, trying to turn and bite at her, but she yanked at the tail, spinning on the spot. Ember Cilicia's strength allowed her to destabilise the Grimm, sending it hurtling a small distance, a furrow of dirt and stone and trees being pushed aside by the Grimm's massive mass.
Blake gave her a grateful nod through the comms, before rushing forward alongside Ren, whose entire Ark looked dull as if the colour had been sapped from it. Ruby moved in as well, Crescent Rose's massive weapon shifting into its Scythe form as a storm of Rose petals followed in its wake.
The downed Grimm was doing its best to get up and was honestly looking like it was going to before the three got there, Yang having thrown it a bit further than she intended with her Semblance as chock full of energy as it was.
She heard Weiss shout a warning to the three as the Grimm's tail whipped around, ready to slam into Ruby, who was moving too fast to avoid it. Yang was running forward to reach her but could tell she wasn't gonna make it.
[RUBY!]
And then all of a sudden, the tail stopped, giving Ruby the space needed to dodge it. As Yang got closer, she realised why. Crocea Arca stood behind the Grimm, its sword halfway into the ground as it pinned the Grimm's tail down.
[Sorry for being slow, guys!]
Yang let out a laugh at that, shaking her head in relief that Ruby wasn't gonna be the first one of them to take an Ark-damaging hit. [Better late than never, Chief. You ready to help us put this fucker down?]
Crocea Arca full-on nodded at that, and Yang snorted as backed off slightly, letting Jaune hop into the 'main tank' role and letting her Aura regenerate a little. With Ruby out of the way, Jaune pulled his sword out and tanked the flailing of its tail with his shield, before moving around the Grimm to put himself between it and them.
[Hell yeah, I am! Fireteam Jasper, let's get rid of this Grimm for good!]
Weiss couldn't help but sigh to herself as Arc's cheer seemed to rally the others.
She just… Didn't understand. Didn't understand Beacon, for not finding Arc out before he even got there, and for making him the Fireteam Leader. Didn't understand her teammates, who knew that Arc was a lower-than-average student but seemed so willing to rally behind him.
But more than that, she didn't understand Arc. How could a bumbling fool fueled by sheer confidence alone make it as far as he had? He literally didn't have Aura when he somehow got to Beacon, so how was he here, now, leading their team to charge at an actual Grimm, in an actual Ark?
She didn't hate him… He just frustrated her. But she had a job to do, so she funnelled her frustration into her Semblance as a field of various Glyphs appeared around the Grimm. Her Ark informed her of exactly how much Dust of each type she had remaining as elemental fury rained down on the Grimm, which she didn't even need Myrtenaster's catalogue to know was a Creep, its prehensile tail giving it away.
The Creep roared out in pain as Ice, fire, lighting, and gravity itself slammed into it from all directions. Weiss was finally using her stockpile of Dust generously now that their whole team was here. She had been using it sparingly since she and Yang got there, wanting to familiarise herself with her teammate's styles before she started throwing her less precise moves out, but she was confident in her knowledge now.
The barrage of elements kept the Creep busy long enough for her teammates, even Crocea Arca, to make it to the Grimm uncontested by its tail. Only she and Ruby stayed back, with the other girl seemingly not wanting to push her luck again.
Instead, they peppered it with shots from her Sniper Rifle, and attacks using Weiss' Semblance. Fire Dust was the first one she ran out of, hitting the inbuilt limiter she had asked for, to stop her from using all of it without thinking. She still had a small amount left for emergencies, but for general combat, she was out.
As she used more Ice attacks to make up for the Fire being finished, it caused the Ice Dust to run out quickly as well, leaving her with only her smaller stockpiles of the more exotic or less combat-useful Dust types.
The Grimm doesn't last much longer after that, however, so it wasn't much of an issue. It was already on its way to losing when it was just the four of them, and then Ren had arrived, and then Arc had arrived.
For all his faults, Arc was sturdier than a brick wall when it came to taking hits, in a way that not even Yang with her Semblance could equal. And with that brick wall in the way of almost every attack the Creep tried, it let the others beat it down with almost no response from the monster.
Even Ruby eventually rushed in with her Scythe again, her Ark's surprising strength for its size showing itself as she flipped over the Creep, slashing through its weakened tailbone and completely cutting it off. That caused the Grimm to let out the loudest screech of pain Weiss had ever heard, her cabin shaking from the vibrations even as far away from it as she was.
With its tail gone, and Arc pinning down its head and mouth with his shield, Crocea Arca's right leg stomped into the side of its body, the Grimm was effectively… Neutered, for the moment. And so she deactivated her Semblance's Glyphs, rushing forward as Yang reared her fist back in what was definitely going to be a skull-shattering haymaker.
[WAIT! Don't kill it yet!]
Jaune visibly glanced at the image of Weiss to his left with a look of absolute disbelief. He was probably running on more adrenaline than he had ever experienced before as he forced Crocea Arca's shield to press down on the jaw of the Grimm.
[What are you talking about, Weiss? It's a Grimm!]
Ruby pretty much summed up what she believed that he and the others were probably thinking. Weiss was worried for a second, but as Yang pulled herself back, she was likely very noticeably relieved.
[I want to be the one to kill it.]
Blake let out a huff at that, an eyebrow raised. [Never really took youfor the glory hog type, Weiss. Seemed more like the 'noble with a heart of gold' trope.]
She was a little confused by Blake's words but she got the gist of it. She did also, however, go a little red at the 'heart of gold' bit. [No, it's… Ugh! It's about my Semblance. And why I'm at Beacon, to begin with! My mother follows my great-grandfather's rules about how the company heir is chosen, which means I have to be stronger, smarter, and just betterthan my siblings if I want to take over the company one day. That includes my Semblance…]
She sighed as she rolled her shoulders. [Alongside its other effects… It also allows me to summon copies of foes I've defeated before. I haven't been able to figure it out entirely yet, but my sister assures me it is, well, keeping track of my kills, as it were. Once I figure it out, I will surely be able to summon this Creep to assist us in battle.]
Weiss remembered the words that Winter had drilled into her, about showing her teammates the proper respect when it came to her Semblance, and how she should… sigh… Defer to the decision of her fireteam leader, if she was not picked. 'Truly… Heavens curse you, Winter, for instilling such honour in me.'
She understood the urgency of the situation and knew that they were unlikely to be able to keep the Grimm pinned forever without having to injure it further or potentially kill it outright, so her words sped up as she got the last of her explanation out.
[Fireteam Leader… Arc… Would you allow me to make the final blow against the Grimm?]
His response was, surprisingly, instant.
[Are you kidding? Of course, go ahead, Weiss! If it helps you grow, then it's a good thing. Unless anyone else has a Grimm summoning semblance that they need to call dibs on this one for?]
His attempt at humour aside, it was almost… heartening to hear how seemingly… Invested he was into making her better. She had been expecting him to make the smart choice and let her perform the final blow no matter what, but it did make her feel slightly guilty at just how happy he was to allow her it.
She'd likely half expected him to want to kill it himself, as a way to prove he should be at Beacon… But for him to either give that up for her growth or to not even consider it at all… 'Ugh, I actually think I respect that from a leader.'
[Thank you, Arc. You may let it raise its head now.]
Crocea Arca shifted slightly down the Creep's body, his shield now pressing down onto what Weiss would generously call shoulder blades as he held down the struggling creature with… Surprising aptitude. Did he have experience wrangling animals, perhaps?
[No worries at all, Weiss. We'll try and remember for next time. You especially, Yang, because you're her partner and will be sent on missions with her more than the whole team will.]
Ember Cicilica sent back what Weiss could only assume was an attempt at a thumbs-up with its arms, but the Dragon-heads weren't capable of making the gesture, leaving Yang to just shake her Ark's arm up and down.
Horrifically, the attempt got a small snort of laughter out of her. Not wanting to waste any more time or fuel Yang's incessant and terrible comedy, and to vent the small amount of frustration the revelation that she now actually kind of respected Arc brought, Myrtenaster stomped forward and quickly dispatched the struggling Creep with a stab and a twirl through the eye socket, decimating whatever counted for a brain in its skull.
She didn't feel a rush of power or anything from her Semblance, but Winter had assured her that it was there, in the background, keeping tabs… and she trusted her sister more than anyone else in the world, even her mother.
And so, as the rest of Fireteam Jasper started cheering as the Grimm started to dissolve, Weiss couldn't help but join in, a smile on her face… But only a little.
Beacon was somehow both quiet… And the loudest it had ever been.
Ozpin chuckled to himself as lifetimes upon lifetimes of memories within the walls of these halls flowed through him for an instant, and he allowed himself to replay the scene in front of him through the eyes of dozens of men, each with a different cast of people, each in a different time.
He only allowed it for a moment, however. It was good to remember, to reminisce, especially about the good times, but there were many bad memories stored within his soul, and if he relaxed into the past, he would be swallowed up by them…
'Maybe if I was I would find my sense of optimism! Really, Ozpin, must you devolve into brooding the moment your thoughts turn to the past?'
Maybe earlier in this body's life, the voice in his head would have been a different one, but his current host, Ozpin, had been merged with him for many a decade by this point. No, his self-admonishments were solely his own this day.
Still, his inner voice was right. T'was better to look forward hopefully, than regret the past.
So look forward he did, to the smiling, tired faces of over a hundred students, feasting and partying to their heart's content after a mission successfully completed A person's first mission as a Huntsman or Huntress, even those still in training, especially those still in training, was one that you didn't forget.
Even after thousands of years, he still remembered his first combat exercise! Sure, his instructor releasing a Dragon into the arena he studied in was a bit much, but it taught them well, and it worked.
And with the many issues he had with that man… Port reminded Ozpin of his instructor, even when their name and face had faded from his mind over time. It was a comfort to have that link to a time long gone.
'I really am terrible at this staying positive thing, aren't I…'
Shaking his head to recentre himself, he took a deep swig of his coffee. He'd long had a love for it and discovered many a year ago that caffeine helped to centre the mind on the present, keeping him from losing too much focus.
"My, I must say that this year is looking rather talented, rather talented indeed!"
Ozpin allowed his eyes to drift from the students and their revelry, landing on Bart as the man pushed his glasses back up, taking a rather rapid sip from his mug. Ozpin didn't know how on earth the man could savour the coffee he drank so quickly.
His eyes shifted to Anne as she glanced towards the students as well, and found his eyebrow raising slightly as he noticed her noticing a specific fireteam.
None of the other teachers noticed the incredibly small smile of amusement on her face as Miss Xiao Long from Fireteam Jasper made a commotion, only just being restrained from starting an all-out food fight by her sister, Qrow's other niece, Miss Belladonna, and her fireteam leader grabbing at her arms and stopping herself from flinging a chunk of mashed potato at the young Miss Schnee while Lie Ren escaped his team's shenanigans, moving over to a redheaded girl on the other side of the cafeteria.
He chuckled to himself, shaking his head. The students of the future were just as boisterous and energetic as the students of yesteryear, in all the right ways. He was confident that they would all become fine Huntsmen and Huntresses themselves.
And it was with that thought in mind that his eyes landed on the young Mister Arc, whose panicked look as he tried to talk down Miss Xiao Long might not have inspired much confidence in another man, and found a smile forming on his face.
He couldn't help but see potential, and if he was right about the boy, the future.
Hello!
Thank you for reading along with Remnant Light so far!
In case you missed it at the end of the last chapter, with the conclusion of the first story arc, Remnant Light will be taking a short break! At least a month-long, potentially a month and a half, while I write back up my backlog! I do still have up to chapter 25 written at this point, but I want to play it super safe so that I don't burn out and leave y'all hanging!
This chapter was a really fun one to write, even if it was a couple of months back now that I did so. I'm really looking forward to taking a short break, building up my backlog, and then getting you guys into my 'Volume 2!'
Thank you for sticking it out with me for the Prerequisite Arc!
Thank you all for reading, and please, leave a comment down below on your thoughts on this first story arc! I'd love to hear any feedback you have!