Hello hello!
Enjoy the chapter! Announcement at the bottom about a hiatus, as this is the last chapter of Remnant Light's "Volume 2!"
'Man… The boys weren't kidding when they said travelling like this was boring'
Yang grumbled to herself as she piloted Ember Cilicia over a bend in a river, stopping the bottom of its foot from getting wet. She hadn't quite believed Jaune and Ren's claim that actually getting to the mission was going to be the part that sucked the most, but she could see where they were coming from, now.
Walking was boring. Walking in a 60-metre-tall machine meant to eradicate monsters should have been more fun… But then she had been told to do it for a day and a half, straight. She was genuinely considering splitting her focus and playing a game on her scroll to kill some time, but she also didn't want to get told off for doing so.
Glancing at the screen hovering to her left, Yang saw Weiss focusing on something, the tip of her tongue peeking from outside of her mouth as her eyes narrowed at a screen in front of her.
"So, Weiss-cream… Are we there yet?"
She smirked as Weiss glanced over to her left, clearly glaring at her. Yang just stuck her tongue out at the girl, who rolled her eyes dramatically at her… She couldn't hide the smile on her face, however.
"No, Yang. We are not there yet. Although… We should have at least connected to the CCT Node by now. They might be having some IT issues."
Yang just shrugged. She was good enough with the technology to use it, and she could put a motorbike back together with her eyes closed, but the absolute witchcraft that people called 'software' eluded her something fierce. However, it did seem like something that Weiss would have a better handle on, so she just smiled and nodded.
Yang tapped at her console, pulling up the mission they had been given.
Mission Priority: Urgent
Potential Danger Rating: Unknown
Fireteam Assigned: JSBYRR
Partnership Assigned: [Weiss Schnee] - [Yang Xiao Long]
The village of Lohr has contacted Beacon about sightings of Grimm activity. They have not been able to provide many details, so stay on your guard.
In the event that you discover a Grimm that you believe to be beyond your capabilities, or that presents a strategic weakness for your partnership, retreat immediately and contact Beacon HQ. Support elements or reinforcements will be sent to your closest tenders' location to aid you.
May your Hunt be fruitful, and your losses few.
Admiral Ozpin.
She couldn't help but frown at that, as she saw the location data that was pinned underneath the message. They were kinda close to Lohr now, having been walking for a day and a half, now. Tapping into a menu, she tried her best to connect to Lohr's CCT Node, and… She got nothing. "Yeah, I'm not connecting, either. Maybe we're further than we think?"
She would freely admit that the two of them weren't the best on their team at orienteering, but even then, saying that they could get lost while in an Ark that had a live map on it was a bit much. The snort that Weiss let out told her that she felt the same.
"I have been keeping track of our positions this entire time, Yang. We're just under 10 kilometres away from Lohr. We should have been able to connect to the CCT Node by now, barring IT issues… Or a genuine emergency."
Yang's lips pursed at that. She had considered that something had happened to Lohr before they could get there… But she didn't want to start spewing that kind of negativity before they even got to the village. If they were already dealing with a Grimm, then there was no reason to invite more.
Coughing into her fist, she drew Weiss' attention, the worried expression on her face lessening as she met her eyes. "So… What do you think we're up against?"
Weiss sighed heavily, letting her head hang back for a moment. "I'm not sure, to be honest. Lohr didn't give Beacon much information to work with. Apparently, their report basically had the equivalent of 'Grimm nearby, help' written in green pen of all things."
Sitting back up in her pilot's seat, Yang saw Weiss tap away at her console a little more, frowning at it as the sound of a failed CCT connection pinged again. "I'm honestly a little disappointed in them, they didn't do their due diligence for the report and research what kind of Grimm they are facing before asking for help."
Yang hums at that, swishing her head side to side to adjust her hair. "Well, y'know, most people who aren't Huntsman don't really like to think too hard about the Grimm. Especially out this far from the Kingdom."
Weiss blinked, her head fully turning to look at the screen that Yang would be showing up on with an aghast expression on her face. "Are you kidding me? They're the ones most likely to be attacked by a Grimm!"
Yang just shrugs, remembering how people talked about the Grimm back in Patch. "Most just don't care that 'Grimm' doesn't just mean 'Big Monster.' I'm not sure most civilians even know that there are different types of Grimm."
Yang had to hold back a laugh as Weiss huffed at that, a frustrated look on her face. "That is stupid. If they educated themselves about the Grimm more, then we all might be able to have an easier time of it when the Grimm attack."
Bringing her arms up as if surrendering, Yang just smiled. "Hey, hey, I agree with you. It is a bit stupid. But people are a bit stupid, especially when it comes to giant monsters that seem to appear out of nowhere and destroy everything. The information is out there for those who want it, though. Most people, especially those who live this far out… They prefer to bury their heads in the sand and pretend the Grimm don't even exist."
While a lifestyle full of denial did seem to somewhat work as a block on negativity, and could save lives if it came down to it, some people did usually break under the stress. She wondered if she was one of them… But shook her head, sending those thoughts away. Now wasn't the time for that.
Weiss doesn't say anything in response to that, merely tapping away at her console some more… But still, Yang could see the frustrated look on the girl's face. A silence fell over them after that as they walked, the sounds of their footsteps likely echoing around them, but not reaching them in the cockpits.
Glancing around, Yang decided to focus on the scenery for a while, as Weiss seemed locked in on her console, trying to get a connection to Lohr's CCT Node to activate.
As she took a good look around, she couldn't help but be impressed that Lohr had lasted so long. It was almost a two-day long walk from Beacon -in an Ark, of all things- and straddled the border between Vale and Vacuo.
Because of that, she could see that the ground below her was starting to become drier, and the trees of Vale's dense, lush forests were shifting into rows upon rows of scraggly, barren trees with white bark. She remembers hearing that these kinds of trees had evolved to be hardy, and much less affected by the intense heat, capable of surviving without water for a long while in case of a drought.
The barren trees and the dusty, dry ground didn't make for the nicest of scenery, but after walking through the southern ends of Vale, which were essentially one giant forest… Anything was better than seeing nothing but trees all the way to the horizon in every direction.
"So, Weiss. We're like, almost there, right?"
Weiss startled slightly at the question but glanced at her map again. Nodding slowly, she hummed, reaching over and zooming in slightly on the map. "Yes, we are. I would give us only 10 minutes at our current speed… Which concerns me. We should have been able to connect to the CCT almost an hour ago. I've even tried rerouting some extra power to the comms, but I'm getting nothing."
Yang can't help the spike of worry that shoots through her at that. It would have been okay if they were still hours away… But they were practically on top of Lohr, now, and were still getting nothing. "Right, well. Let's pick it up a little, see if we can cut that 10 minutes down a bit?"
Weiss nodded sharply in response to that, and while neither of their Arks were the fastest on their Fireteam, they were still Arks. Nothing on two feet was faster than an Ark's pilot in a hurry… Except maybe for Ruby, but that was another matter altogether.
But the fact that they were speeding up did nothing to quell the sinking feeling growing in her stomach. Yang could only hope that their first mission as partners wasn't about to become more gruesome than they were expecting.
Weiss was nervous.
It was inevitable to be nervous about her first proper mission, even if there was a small part of her that was insulted at the idea that she had anything to be nervous about. And she did mean a small part of her. It had been brought to life when she was little but had quickly lost its hold on her when she was little.
Whatever could have happened to do that, she would never know.
Rolling her eyes, she shook her head, urging Myrtenaster towards Lohr as fast as it could move. Looking at it objectively, there could be any number of reasons that someone from Lohr's CCT Node might not be responding to them, but… For the two of them to be completely incapable of connecting to the CCT Node…
That told her something was wrong.
While she had complained about Lohr not doing their best to inform Beacon of what type of Grimm they would be sending Yang and herself to fight… That didn't mean she wished any misfortune upon the village. She had thought them lazy, not malicious.
Her HUD beeped at her, and her eyes widened. Yang and herself were finally reaching the top of a hill that surrounded the valley where Lohr was built… As they crested the hill they came into direct line of sight with the CCT Node.
Coming to a brief stop, Weiss tapped away at her console, doing her best to secure the tenuous connection to the CCT Node that had appeared onscreen. Glancing out of her cockpit, the first thing that Weiss noticed was that the CCT Node wasn't shining with blue light… No. It was shining, it was just being covered by something.
"Yang! There is something physically blocking the CCT Node's transmitter!"
Yang met her eyes through the communications screens as Weiss tapped away, trying to grab ahold of the weak signal that was getting through whatever was covering the CCT Node… But before she could say anything, Weiss' console beeped, and static filled the air.
[-rg-ncy! Em-rg-enc-! Thi- is Lo-r's Ar- Te-de-! -he-'s a Gr-m c-mi-! -t's a -ucki-g DREADWEAVER! -e ne- h-lp! W-'re t-ing t- e-cuate -hil- t-e t-wn's -fence s-em -s it -ff b- I -n't kn-w if w- c- -ake it -fore i- get- ov- -e w-ls!]
Weiss felt her eyes widen as the message came through, and even Yang was dead silent. The message repeated right after it finished, clearly having been set on repeat. Even though the static made it hard to hear most of the details, the message was clear.
The town had been attacked before they arrived, by a Dreadweaver.
"Shit, Weiss, that's the big ass spider Grimm, right?"
Weiss blinked at Yang's words, shocked out of her stupor. She had to marvel a little at the sheer level of disgust in the other girl's voice. She hated the Grimm, too, everyone who signed up to be a Huntsman or Huntress had some level of distaste towards them, but Yang sounded on a whole other level. "Yes, DreadWeavers are akin to Spiders, although due to their size, they are far more destructive. Very few buildings can take having a hundred-ton monster clinging to its wall before toppling, after all."
She saw Yang looking despondent on the other side of the communications screen, the back of her head banging up against her pilot's chair, sending a burst of fire running down it like a riptide. "Ugh, I hate spider webs. When you have as much hair as I do, they get tangled up in everything!"
Weiss just shook her head at that, smirking at her antics… And was grateful to Yang. Even if it wasn't on purpose, a little bit of levity was necessary after receiving a transmission with that kind of tone. "Yang, I think I need to make sure we are both on the same page here. The Grimm… The DreadWeaver… It covered up the CCT Node with its webbing. Either that is a massive stroke of luck on its part…"
Yang nodded sharply, letting out a deep breath. Weiss saw her shaking out her hands and stretching her fingers, clearly getting prepared for the tactile feedback she would be getting through her Aura when she punched the Grimm. "Or… It is old enough to have learnt that the 'glowing blue towers' bring Huntsmen and Huntresses when a town is attacked."
Urging Myrtenaster forward again, Weiss ran through one last check-up on her weaponry.
Fuel at acceptable levels, having run on bare minimum while travelling.
Ammunition at maximum.
Dust reserves for her semblances at maximum.
Her Arks' rapier was sharpened to a deadly point by the most precise machinery Atlas had to offer.
They were ready, they could do this."Yes, indeed. A Grimm that has anything above its base instincts implies it has lived a very long time, and is likely very large, as well. DreadWeavers are usually Medium-sized Grimm… I wouldn't be shocked if this one crosses well over into Large-sized."
Yang clicked her tongue at that, and Ember Cilicia matched Myrtenaster's pace. Weiss had already sent a couple of entry requests to the gate crew within Lohr, but they'd received no response. "Damn… Do you even think we should be the ones to fight this thing, then?"
Weiss grimaced. They hadn't expected to receive a response to their entry request, but it was still quite unnerving to get nothing. Weiss wasn't done, however, as much as she would like to be. "Well, I don't want to alarm you, Yang, but…"
Yang glanced in her direction, even as that reached Lohr's front gate, and Weiss could see her powering up to break the gate down. Flames had already started to belch out of the dragon-heads that Ember Cilicia had instead of fists, and Yang just grunted at her.
"What is it, Weiss? Something wrong?"
Weiss just gulped, and she motioned towards the CCT Node, and the muffled blue light at the top of it. Yang followed her movement and looked up at the CCT Node as well, her eyes widened as she seemingly had the same realisation that Weiss herself had.
"Fuck, are you saying-"
Weiss nodded, even as Yang threw Ember Cilicia forward, blowing a hole open in Lohr's gate, and pushed the gate open with a kick, the sound of screeching metal and the impact of her Ark's foot echoing through the dark, spider web-covered roads of Lohr.
"Yes, Yang, unfortunately, I am. Unless we turn around and walk all the way back to the area Vale's CCT covers, then until we get rid of the spider web at the top of the CCT Node… we won't be able to get a signal back to Beacon."
CRACK! SLICE!
"Thanks, Weiss."
Weiss nodded at her as she cut Yang's foot free from some of the spider webs that lined the streets of Lohr. It hadn't been the first time that Yang had gotten Ember Cilicia stuck on some of them and pulled apart the buildings it was connected to before Weiss could cut her free… But it was still annoying to see how much easier Weiss' lithe Myrtenaster had it.
Ember Cilicia was already covered in the dregs of around 15 different strands of the cable-like spider web, and even now it was slightly weighing her Ark down. Weiss could likely cut most of it free if they had time to stop and do it slowly and carefully, but… They still hadn't spotted the DreadWeaver.
Sure, they'd only been in the city for around 20 minutes now, but that was actually spooking Yang more since it meant they had been in Lohr for almost half an hour with the Grimm charging at them and trying to kill them. And realistically, the only thing scarier than a big Grimm was a smart one.
"Hey, Weiss?"
She saw Myrtenaster pause for a moment, and Weiss looked at her through the communications screen for a second. "What is it, Yang?"
Yang kept her eyes shooting around both of them as she talked, not wanting to give the DreadWeaver any kind of opening to attack them. She knew that she was kinda killing her tough-girl reputation by acting so skittish right now, but…
She'd rather be embarrassed than dead. "W-What's the plan for when we eventually find the Grimm? I'm getting stuck on shit just walking through, so I'm not sure how mobile I'm gonna be in a fight."
She heard Weiss hum through the comms at that, the girl's eyes darting around just as much as Yang knew her own were. "With its ability to limit our maneuverability while enhancing its own, I believe it best that I take point on this fight. My glyphs are our best bet for immobilising it, and then you can take it out."
Yang nodded, mostly to confirm to herself that there was a plan of action. "Right, yeah… Okay. But don't you want to be the one to get the kill on this thing? For your Semblance or something like that?"
Weiss blinked at that, pausing for a moment. Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she finally managed to speak. "Oh, I didn't think you would remember that. Not this time. We are not in a situation where we can risk it escaping your grasp and counterattacking. If we had the others alongside us, then perhaps, but with just two… Our safety is more important than the progression of a part of my Semblance I cannot even use yet."
Yang hummed in response, accepting her answer.
SKITTER
"Gah!"
Yang spun Ember Celica around as a sound akin to the skittering of a bug reached her ears, the dragon-head fists rising into a fighting stance on instinct, already spewing out a rush of fire as her Aura thrummed through her. She felt something bump into Ember Celica… And was really glad when she realised that it was Weiss, placing Myrtenaster back-to-back with her.
"I heard it too. Prepare to engage."
Yang appreciated the serious, focused tone in Weiss' voice, which was definitely something she got from being Atlesian. Nodding sharply, she let out a deep breath. She then slammed her dragon-head fists together, causing fire to spread down the street their Arks were standing on, as well as sending an echo throughout the nearby blocks.
"I'm ready."
SKREECH!
She could see the undamaged spider webs in the area vibrating heavily as the echo from Yang's dragon-head fists reverberated throughout the region, and finally, they heard the DreadWeaver. She nodded to herself. The good news was that they knew it was close, now. The bad news, however…
"Above us!"
There was a Glyph below both Arks the instant that Yang's shout escaped her, Myrtenaster and Ember Cilicia being flung away from each other as the DreadWeaver dropped down from a nearby tower. It slammed into the road and cratered it pretty badly, the buildings next to its landing spot crumbling into the pit it created.
A DreadWeaver was a giant, eight-legged monstrosity on a good day, but this was one that had lived long enough to know to block the CCT Node. Calling it 'giant' felt like an understatement, when it was practically the same height as Ember Cilicia… Even as it crawled around on its eight legs.
The front of it contained a multitude of (comparatively) small, glowing red eyes, completely covering the top half of its body. Its front two legs didn't seem like they were gonna be used for walking, as the bladed ends looked more like swords than legs.
It was as malformed and grotesque as she had come to expect from the Grimm. They were a mutated facsimile of the wildlife of Remnant, as if taking some kind of twisted inspiration from the animal kingdom.
At the moment, however, the humongous, mutated Spider seemed to be slightly shaken, the silhouette in the dust cloud tapping all of its legs on the ground as if trying to stretch them out after its rough landing.
However, Yang didn't want to give it a single moment to recover. As soon as the force of Weiss' Glyph stopped pushing her away, she threw all she had into running towards the DreadWeaver, with a blazing fire trailing behind her. She entered the dust cloud that the Grimm had created on impact and threw her fist forward to where it should have been…
And found, instead, a maze of spider webs. If her hands hadn't been covered in flames hot enough to burn through them, she would have likely gotten trapped right there. Looking around frantically, she saw a shadow just out of her reach rushing away from here, towards Myrtenaster, standing on the other side of the dust cloud.
"Weiss! It's heading your way!"
She pumped more power into the flames on her fists and rushed forward, doing her best to keep out of the spider webs as much as possible. Weiss and Myrtenaster were amazing, yeah, but they didn't have much armour or shields, and the Dreadweaver was using the dust to its advantage.
The fact that it was old enough to even know to do that made her nervous.
The fact that Weiss was in danger made her brave.
She flooded her Aura with her Semblance, and an alert went off to tell her that the flames that usually coated her hair were leaking out of almost every inch of her Aura. Using that literal aura of fire, she barreled right through another set of traps the DreadWeaver had set up for her and grabbed onto one of the Grimm's legs.
SSSKKKRRREEECCCHHH!
She could feel the outer layers of the DreadWeaver's exoskeleton roasting a little from the heat her Ark was giving off… But she could also see how keeping her Semblance up for this long was absolutely draining her Aura. As her Aura meter dropped below 50%, she spun a full 180 degrees around while still holding the Grimm's leg, throwing the DreadWeaver as hard as she could away from where Weiss had landed after they had been split up.
"HYAH!"
There was a barrage of crashing noises as the DreadWeaver was flung down the street behind her, but she was more focused on making sure that Weiss was okay and restarting the fight on their own terms. "Weiss, you good?"
Weiss' voice came through her comms unit loud and clear, and Yang let out a sigh of relief. "All good here. Thanks, Yang."
Yang nodded, pumping her Ark's arms as if she were reloading them as she put Ember Cilicia between the DreadWeaver and Myrtenaster. "Somehow, it seems to know that I don't have a weapon. It tried to trap me so that it could go after you."
Weiss frowned at that, and Yang saw a Glyph appear in front of Ember Celica and flash green, using a bit of Wind Dust to blow awake the cloud of dust that was blocking their sight. Yang clicked her tongue as she saw that the street the DreadWeaver had run down was now covered in spider webs.
"We can't let it trap us here, Yang. Let's move."
Yang followed Weiss' lead as she turned and moved away from where the DreadWeaver had laid its traps. Technically they were moving away from the CCT Node, but she preferred to think about it as going around an obstacle, than the DreadWeaver forcing them back.
While Weiss kept an eye out on the ground, she slashed her way through the spider webs as they moved. Yang watched the roofs around them, not wanting the DreadWeaver to get the drop on them again. As she did so, she saw a flash of movement across a short distance as the Grimm dropped down onto ground level.
"Two streets over, it's dropped to the floor! Careful of its webs!"
Weiss nodded at Yang's words and they rushed forward, turning the corner at the end of the street they were on and rushing towards the DreadWeaver. It clearly hadn't been able to tell that Yang had seen it, as it was in the middle of setting up a trap for them. As the DreadWeaver saw them, it stopped weaving and started screeching.
A Glyph appeared underneath Weiss' Ark, and Yang watched in awe as the machine suddenly shot into the sky, the force of its jump massively enhanced by the Glyph. Her distraction cost her, however, as she saw what Weiss had been dodging. A concentrated shot of spider web from the DreadWeaver's thorax slammed into Ember Cilicia's left arm, pinning it to the wall of the building next to her.
"Yang!"
A barrage of ice shot towards the ground Ember Cilicia and the DreadWeaver, and a wall grew from there they impacted, blocking another blast of spider web that would have pinned Yang's other arm. Yang waited a moment for Myrtenaster to drop back to the ground and cut the spider web holding onto the building, leaving a long strand of steel-like web hanging from it.
"Thanks for the save, Weiss-cream."
Yang was about to burn the spider web and get rid of the hanging section…
But then she had an idea.
"Hey, Weiss. If I can get it to take another shot at me, can you use that moment to freeze it to the ground?"
Weiss looked at her like she was crazy, a Glyph appearing above them to block a blob of spider web that the DreadWeaver tried to lob over the wall of ice. "I can, but are you sure you should be risking getting hit again? What if it gets all tangled in your Ark and you can't move to counterattack?"
Yang shook her head, smiling. "Don't worry, Weiss. I'll be fine. You just make sure you lock it down tight, okay?"
Weiss let out a huff, before nodding. Yang appreciated the trust in her and shot her a thumbs up, motioning with the ice wall with her head. "Alright, then. Drop this ice wall, and I'll get its attention!'
Yang saw Weiss point her hand out towards the wall, and a glowing red Glyph appeared at its base, flash-melting it with intense heat. Yang rushed forward immediately, while Weiss launched Myrtenaster into the air again.
The DreadWeaver seemed to look up as Weiss used her Glyphs underneath Myrtenaster's feet, and Yang could see how the Glyphs themselves bent under the weight of the Ark. No wonder it was so thin and lithe, she needed to stay as light as possible if she wanted to be able to get airborne!
Now wanting to be outdone, Yang fired off a barrage of shots at the DreadWeaver, causing it to screech in pain as the shots popped a couple of the blood-red eyes that seemed to be tracking both of them at the same time. Or at least, they had been. With Yang asserting herself as their most direct threat, the DreadWeaver shifted targets, ignoring Weiss for the moment.
She saw a flash of the light grey spider web building up in the DreadWeaver's mouth and threw herself to the side. Like a beam attack, the line of spider webs shot towards her as fast as a bullet, and it was only her instincts that let her dodge it, the line sailing right past her.
She saw the DreadWeaver start building up another shot of its spider web straight away, and was able to call out for Weiss… But then she saw the Glyphs on the floor beneath it, growing larger with each second. Yang had promised to keep it distracted, and Weiss had clearly trusted her to do her, as she was so focused on pouring her energy into her Semblance that her eyes were closed.
"Yang, now!"
Weiss' voice called out as her Glyphs seemed to reach some kind of maximum size, flashing a bright blue. Yang's console beeped at the sudden drop in temperature as Weiss yelled from exertion, and a glacier appeared at the DreadWeaver's feet, trapping all of them within a block of ice the size of a city block.
Weiss had even gotten those blade-like arms at the front of the DreadWeaver caught up in the ice, although those were the parts that seemed like they were freeing themself from it the fastest. Yang didn't waste any time as the block of ice came into existence, sprinting forward, flames growing from the dragon-head fists and lighting the tendril of spider web on fire, just lightly enough to not destroy it.
"Weiss! Send me up!"
She didn't have time to elaborate, and luckily she didn't need to. As Ember Celica bent its knees and leapt as high as it could -not usually having a very high jump height due to its weight- a Glyph appeared underneath its feet, and Ember Cilicia was launched skyward, the flaming tendril of spider web trailing behind her.
A feeling of weightlessness came over Yang for a moment, as Ember Celica flew through the sky… But as quick as it hit her, it vanished, as the immense weight of her heavily armoured Ark fell back under the influence of gravity.
CRUNCH!
"SSSSKKKKRRRREEEECCCCHHHH!"
As Ember Cilicia landed on top of the DreadWeaver's back, she could feel the roar of pain it let out as her feet punched right through the Grimm's exoskeleton and stabbed deep into the middle section of its body. While having her Ark thigh-deep in Grimm-flesh left Yang fairly immobile, she didn't need to be quick anymore.
"RRRAAARRRGGGHHH!"
Leaning forward, she grabbed ahold of the free end of the flaming spider web with her other hand to the one it was stuck to and looped it around the joint that connected the head and middle section of the DreadWeaver, pulling it tight as she used the Grimm's spider webs -which were akin to the strength of industrial steel cable- like the reins of a horse. She could hear the Grimm screaming in pain, even as it thrashed about, trying to stop Yang from using the cord to crack its exoskeleton in such a vital spot.
It was dying, she could tell that much from the way that her Ark had punched a hole the size of a semi-trailer into its torso, but it was never a bad idea to keep piling on the hurt until the Grimm actually started to disintegrate.
"Keep it right there, Yang!"
Yang made sure that she didn't flinch at all as Weiss' voice shot through her speakers. With her focus on the DreadWeaver, it was clear that its hundreds, maybe thousands of eyes saw something she didn't. Yang was almost tempted to check, but Weiss needed her to keep herself and the DreadWeaver completely still.
"Take this!"
And then, as if inspired by Yang's plan, Mytenaster fell from the sky like a bolt of white lighting, its blade turned into a piledriver made entirely of ice, with electricity sparking through it. The pillar of shining ice slammed into the head of the Grimm with a force only possible with the help of gravity and her Glyphs propelling her down, and a CRUNCH unlike anything Yang had ever heard echoed around them.
Weiss' attack formed a crater in the ground as the ice surrounding Myrtenaster's blade shattered, flying into the already-disintegrating remains of the Grimm like buckshot, forcing the sections they hit to fade away even faster.
"Haha! Fuck yeah!"
Yang couldn't stop the laughter that escaped her as she pumped her fist in the air. It took around 30 seconds of flailing about for Ember Celica to be able to move freely enough to break out of the slowly disintegrating DreadWeaver, and she hit the ground with a thud loud enough that she could hear it in her cockpit, without the outside microphones.
Myrtenaster had stayed next to the corpse as it disappeared long enough for Ember Celica to fall to the ground, and Yang could see that Weiss was headed up to the CCT Node. Running after her, she watched as the DreadWeaver finally faded into nothingness… But the spiderwebs still remained.
She caught up to Weiss as the girl reached the base of the tower, and saw her pointing Myrtenaster's rapier up at the spiderwebs around the CCT Node's transmitter. Not wanting to disrupt her thoughts, Yang stayed silent for a moment, watching as a small red light appeared next to the mass of light-grey spiderwebs all the way up at the top of the tower.
Weiss continued shooting small bursts of fire from her glyphs for a while after that. Yang had interrupted her once during that time to ask what was taking her so long, and she had gotten an almost minute-long lecture about the fragility of communication technology for it…
Until Weiss realised that her yelling at Yang wasn't going to get the spider webs cleared, and demanded she let her focus.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Yang, Weiss let out a huff of exertion, opening her eyes.
Turning to her, Weiss smiled, motioning towards the top of the tower, specifically towards the glowing blue light that was now free to shine over the tops of the buildings around it. "There we go… It's done. Comms should be back up no-"
She was interrupted as her notifications blew the fuck up. The others back in Beacon had clearly started to worry when they had missed their check-in… That was supposed to have happened around two hours ago, now.
Weiss' notifications were just as loud, being audible to Yang even through their own comms units. The girl just kinda… Stared at them for a moment, reading through the same kind of messages of concern and worry that Yang had been getting, before a fond smile grew on her face.
Letting out a deep sigh, Yang was about to say something when another alarm went off, and she started to be hailed by something. She didn't recognise the contact, but she accepted it anyway, a flash of hope rising in her chest.
"Hello? Who is this?"
Weiss looked up at her as she started talking, but seemed to quickly put it together that Yang wasn't talking to her. Tapping away at her own console, Yang was pretty sure that Weiss was informing Beacon and their teammates that they were alive and well. As for Yang…
The screen that popped up in front of her showed a nervous-looking man in almost complete darkness, his face only illuminated by his scroll. "Hello?! Oh, thank the brothers! Are you one of Beacon's kids?"
Yang nodded, about to confirm for sure, but before she could speak, another figure pushed their way into the screen, a kid who looked around 10. "Hey, Lady! Did you kill the big monster?! It's dark down here!"
Blinking, Yang cocked her head to the side, not knowing what the kid meant by 'down here' but moving along. "Yeah, me and my partner got rid of the big bad monster for you, kiddo! Where are you guys?"
The kid's grin was massive as he was pulled off-screen by someone else, and the man from before was left the sole person in view. "Forgive my son, please. We've been cooped up in here for a few days now. We're in the mines to the south of Lohr, Miss Huntress. It's the only spot we've got for evacuation if the city defences fail… You said you killed the Grimm? Are you sure?"
A beep from her console saw Weiss' screen popping up next to the man, and from the way he blinked in surprise, it was clear Weiss had jumped into the call. "Yes, sir. We have. The Grimm -which is called a DreadWeaver, if we were to be specific- has been neutralised. If you lead me to the mines, I can help transport people back to Lohr within an hour. There is much cleanup to be done."
Yang saw the man go through a couple of different emotions all at the same time. Joy for the Grimm being dead. Concern at the idea of 'cleanup' needing to be done. And, finally, a spark of hope that Yang was sure had been smothered just a little if they had really been down in the darkness of a mineshaft for a few days now.
Yang tuned out the conversation a little as Weiss and the man -who turned out to be Lohr's Ark Tender, that was why he had access to their communications channel- organised the details of them picking up the civilians and returning them to Lohr.
Checking her systems, she couldn't help but grin. Her Aura was pretty low, and Ember Celica had taken a bit of a beating, but the Ark was a tough ol' gal through and through, and she had come out of it pretty good. Not quite as good as Myrtenaster had… But that wasn't a fair comparison. It was Yang's job to get up close and personal, and it was Weiss' to blast them with overwhelming firepower from afar.
"C'mon, Yang, let's go! I've informed Beacon, and they should be sending some supplies, and some backup for us. Once we've grabbed the civilians, the Admiral wants us to stick around in case of any follow-up Grimm attacks from the negativity."
Yang just rolled her shoulders -Ember Celica mimicking her movements- and grinned, slamming a fist into her open palm. "Let the bastards try! We just killed an old as fuck DreadWeaver, Weiss! If another one attacks, we just gotta show them why we're the queens of this little slice of Remnant!"
The only thing Yang got in response to that was a snort from Weiss as the other girl rolled her eyes at her. She started moving again -heading in the direction that Lohr' Ark Tender had given them for the Mines- and Yang pushed Ember Celica to follow suit, grinning ear to ear. A good fight, alongside a good friend, with a good ending… And all of it gave her a good story she could embellish the hell out of and tell the others when they got back?
'Shit, stuff like this… 100% Worth the boring travel time!'
Thank you for reading!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, to finish up Volume 2! I actually finished writing this one just today, because I wanted to add another Mission Archive before moving onto Volume 3.
After this chapter is posted, Remnant Light will be going on a 1 month Hiatus, so that I can lock tf in and get myself some more Backlog chapters. I'm not actually hurting for them, with around 9 of them in the bank, but I want to stay WELL ahead of any potential issues. The only missed weeks will be the ones I choose to not post!
Again, thank you all so much for reading, and I look forward to seeing you all in about a months time for the next chapter of Remnant Light!
I cannot WAIT to show you what comes next…