What Defines Us - Ch. 18 (Patreon)

Today was the day.  Today was the day.  After months and months of training and getting beaten up by Blake and Yang, followed by more training and more beatdowns, the day was finally here!  

Hunt day!  Or, more accurately, hunt night!

It felt like trampolines had been glued to her feet - that’s how pumped up she was about today.  Tonight.  Time didn’t matter - it was right now!

“Jeez Ruby - are you excited or what?” Yang asked with a chuckle, walking hand-in-hand with Blake as they trailed Ruby across the airship landing pad.

“Just a little bit!” she exclaimed, jumping once to prove her point.  

Was she excited?  How could she not be excited?  They were about to go on an official hunt!  Into the forest - beyond the city walls.  There’d be no protection out there except what they could provide themselves with their weapons.  There’d be beasts of Grimm in all shapes and sizes.  They could be attacked, ambushed, trapped - the possibilities were practically endless.  And she couldn’t be more thrilled about it!

Of course, a small part of her was nervous.  She wanted to know whether or not this was what she was meant to do, and if she could even do it.  Could she be a huntress?  Could she keep herself alive?  

Most importantly, she didn’t want to let anyone down - especially not Yang or Blake, who’d both put so much time and energy into helping her train.  That’s why she was going to try extra hard today.  No matter what they were up against, she was going to do everything to 110% of her ability.

Right now they were walking - a little too slowly - across the landing pad towards an airship that was already waiting for them.  The engines were fired up - the propellers twirling faster than the eye could see while a loud whirrrrr-ing noise filled the air.

“And Weiss is already here!” Ruby shouted over the sound, pointing out the girl waiting by the lowered gate to the ship.  

Jeez, Weiss was always super timely - unlike Yang, who seemed to dawdle just because. 

“Well I’ll be…” Yang muttered to herself, but Ruby didn’t pay her sister any attention.  Instead, she raced over to greet their fourth person on this journey.  

On the way, she nearly tripped and fell over her own feet, but managed to catch herself at the last second - just in time to pull Weiss into a big hug that caught her by surprise.  But, after initially stiffening, Weiss relaxed and awkwardly patted one hand on Ruby’s back.  

It was like she didn’t know how to hug properly!  

Determined to set a good example, Ruby squeezed Weiss closer and nearly lifted her feet off of the ground.  Enthusiastic - it was an enthusiastic hug!  

Was it weird that Ruby really liked hugging Weiss?  They’d only done it like twice now, but each time had been really nice.  It felt like Weiss fit well in Ruby’s arms - although that was really strange to think about.  But it was true!  Ruby’s arms wrapped around Weiss justttt right.

Well, not just right.  It actually felt like Weiss was a little small - like she should be a bit bigger and that would be perfect.  Like, a little less skinny?

Come to think of it, Weiss did look awfully thin...she definitely needed more ice cream.  But who didn’t?

“Weiss!” Ruby exclaimed after releasing Weiss from the expert level hug.  “Are you excited??”

Even though Weiss smiled, she didn’t look half as enthusiastic as Ruby currently felt.

“‘Excited’ might be stretching the truth a bit…”

“But you’re ready?” 

Nodding, Weiss lightly tapped her fingers against Myrtenaster, the weapon hanging at her side and glinting under the lights of the airship station.  “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

The answer made Ruby beam - but what wasn’t making her happy today?  The birds, the sun, the dumb emergency flares Yang had shoved into Ruby’s pockets ‘just in case’ - everything was awesome.  But there was something extra awesome about Weiss being here - something that made this day even better than Ruby dreamed it would be.  Not only was she going on a hunt with Yang and Blake, but Weiss was coming with them.  Four was a better number than three.  Plus, now Ruby wouldn’t the third wheel - she and Weiss would be third wheels together!

“Surprised to see you here,” Yang commented as she and Blake finally caught up.  

“I made a promise,” Weiss replied, only briefly meeting Yang’s gaze before turning to Ruby with a small smile.  “And I wanted to keep it.”

Ruby beamed at the response, which made her heart feel all happy and warm.  Weiss had promised to be here, and Ruby hadn’t doubted her for a second.

Quickly growing tired of waiting outside, Ruby looked at her sister for permission to run up the super-inviting ramp.  Receiving a nod, she grinned and raced into the ship with Blake, Yang, and Weiss in tow.  Her boots clanked loudly up the metal walkway before the incline suddenly flattened out into a rather empty cargo hold.  There was a row of seats on each wall of the ship, but other than that there wasn’t much besides a pilot sitting up front checking panels filled with rows and rows of lights and switches.  

What would happen if he pushed all the buttons at once?  Was that a thing?  Would the ship overheat and spontaneously combust?  Would it shoot into the air and teleport to another dimension?  

Picking one side of the ship - the left side, because left was best - Ruby stowed Crescent Rose underneath one of the seats and sat down.  Yang and Blake sat across from her, while Weiss picked the seat right next to her.  The excellent choice of chair positioning made her grin.

It wasn’t like Weiss had to sit there, but the fact that she still did made Ruby feel like the cool kid in class.  And Ruby had hardly ever (actually, never) been the cool kid in class.

“Team RWBY - ready to go?”

“Team Ruby-Schnee!” Ruby corrected the pilot before giggling at the name.  Yang smiled across at her before turning towards the cockpit.

“We’re set - whenever you’re ready,” her sister instructed the man.  Yang then motioned for Ruby to put on her seat belt, which she obediently did.  Safety first!  

“Ruby Schnee…” Weiss mumbled to herself while mimicking Ruby’s actions.

“Oh yeah!  Didn’t want to leave you out of the team name!”  

“Thank you.  It...has a nice ring to it.”

The two of them shared smiles - although, Weiss’ looked more sad than happy.  Ruby was going to ask about it, but suddenly her stomach dropped when the ship lifted into the air and shot away from the station.  

They were on their way!

“Are you nervous?” Blake directed across the cabin to Weiss.  Curious, Ruby glanced over just as Weiss’ knee stopped bouncing up and down.

“Just...anxious, I guess.”

“Don’t worry!” Ruby quipped from Weiss’ side.  “Blake and Yang are the best in the business!  You’ll be safe with them!”  

Grinning at the compliment, Yang sent Ruby a wink and thumbs up.  But Weiss looked less than relieved - her knee started bouncing again, but the motion was far less noticeable this time.

“Ok, Ruby - listen to me,” Yang said, leaning forward so Ruby could hear her clearly.  “You never know what might be out there, but you engage Beowolves only.  Anything bigger, you wait for Blake and I to hit it first.  You got it?”

Ruby nodded her head, but Yang raised an eyebrow - letting Ruby know that a verbal response was expected.  

“Got it!” Ruby acknowledged with another nod.  Satisfied with the answer, Yang leaned back in her seat.

“Good, then why don’t you brief us on the mission.”

“What?”

“Tell us what we’re supposed to do,” Yang elaborated with a wave of her hand.  “You read the docs, right?”

“Oh, right,” Ruby replied.  This was a test to see how prepared she was.  Fortunately, unlike every other class she’d ever taken in school, she’d actually studied for this!  

“Uh, well, basically there’s an abandoned research facility in the forest that they think contains important information.  We’re supposed to check the chairman’s office on the 10th floor.  We’ll be dropped off on the roof, take the stairwell down five flights of stairs, find his office and find the information.  We only know it was called Project Scorpio, so anything we find with that name we should take with us or scan if we have time.  We’ll have ten minutes and then the ship will meet us back on the rooftop for pick up.”

“And if something goes wrong?”

This was why she’d memorized all the maps that came with the hunt information!  

The ship wasn’t going to stick around waiting for them - it was going to return to the nearest station at the edge of Vale and come back for them later.  This would minimize the pilot’s risk of running into Nevermores.  

If they couldn’t make it to the rooftop in ten minutes -

“It’ll take five minutes to get another ship to us,” Ruby answered.  The first pilot wouldn’t wait or turn around - a second airship would be dispatched for them instead.  Safety, safety, safety!  These airships weren’t exactly outfitted for battle - they were more like big, floating ducks waiting for a Grimm to pluck them out of the sky.

“What if we can’t make it back to the roof?” Yang asked.

At first, Ruby wanted to ask why they wouldn’t be able to make it to the roof when they’d just used the stairs to get into the building.  If they’d run down five flights of stairs, couldn’t they just as easily run back up them?

But they were planning for the worst case scenario - it was like a fun game of ‘what could go horribly wrong?’  What if the top of the building was suddenly lopped off by an incredibly big Grimm?  Or a random ship carrying wet cement had a spill that filled the staircase?  Or an asteroid hit the building and somehow only destroyed the top five floors while leaving everything else intact?

“The secondary pick up is the fountain!” Ruby answered confidently.

“And the third?”

The question made her brow furrow as she looked over the map image in her mind. 

“I didn’t see a third evac point…”

“Exactly,” Yang responded with a nod.  “If the second pick up doesn’t work, we’re hoofing it back to Vale.  Which will suck in the dark.  But why are we going at night?”

This was an easy one.

“Two reasons,” Ruby began.  “One, the facility is in range of a Nevermore ‘nesting’ site, so flying this close during the day would be pretty dangerous.  Two, Grimm tend to be more spread out at night, but clumped up during the day.  No one knows why, but ya, that’s what they do.”

When Yang looked impressed by the quick answer, Ruby grinned with success.  For one of her birthdays, Yang had given her a book on different species of Grimm and, for the longest time, it had been her favorite thing to read.  It definitely hadn’t made her any more popular at school, but she’d learned a boatload of valuable information!  Like anatomical breakdowns on the species of Grimm that had been researched, theories on their existence, known battle tactics, and their general behavioral tendencies.  Basically, all super useful stuff.  That’s why she’d committed it to memory!

“Why would they have a facility out here?  Why not set up downtown like all the other companies?”

Apparently, Yang had a lot of questions about this hunt - but these were all questions Ruby should be asking, not the other way around!  

Still, she tried to think of an answer.  Downtown would obviously be way nicer, and safer, and...well, Ruby had never heard of any companies set up outside the walls.  That was basically suicide.  So why would anyone do it?  Because they were insane?

“I...they didn’t say…” 

“I know, I’m asking you,” Yang replied with a grin.  “Why out here?”

Biting her lip, Ruby struggled to come up with an explanation.  She’d memorized every bit of information on the pages Yang had given her, but nowhere did it mentioned the purpose for a facility in the first place.  Glancing at Weiss, who motioned that it was up to Ruby to answer, Ruby gave up and shook her head.

“I dunno...the view?” she joked, gesturing out one of the small windows at the expanse of treetops that were hardly visible in the darkness.  Yang laughed at the answer, but it was Blake who spoke next.

“They were doing research on Grimm.”

“On Grimm?” Ruby gasped in surprise.  “For what??”

“They were trying to find an easier way to destroy Grimm,” Blake explained.  “Preferably by isolating a weakness that could be exploited chemically.  They thought they could safeguard the facility...obviously that was an incorrect assumption.”

“That’s why it couldn’t be built in Vale,” Yang added.  “Can you imagine how upset people would be if they learned Grimm were being trucked into the city?  Research or not - no one wants Grimm inside the walls.”

The explanation made a lot of sense, even though it was a crazy idea to build a research facility in the forest.  There were exactly zero instances of that working out as planned.

Before Yang could ask another question, Weiss gently nudged Ruby’s shoulder and nodded towards the window.  When Ruby leaned closer, she could see the vague outlines of moonlit buildings coming into view.  

The research facility was actually a massive compound surrounded by thick walls that had once been sturdy, but were now broken and crumbling.  From the look of it, something quite large had torn the concrete apart and created gaping holes in the outer defenses.  When Ruby pointed out one of the holes through the window, Weiss nodded.

“Not so secure anymore…” she whispered.

It had probably once been a pretty nice place.  There were smaller buildings - that might have been built for housing - sitting along wide roads that had street signs and everything.  A courtyard connected everything together with a tall fountain in the very center - their emergency exit if things went sideways.  Their current destination was set off to one side of the compound - a tall building that towered out of the darkness.  The moon glinted off the glass covering the outside, which was also broken in many places.

No wonder this place had been overrun - Nevermores could spot this spire from miles away.  Defending it would cost a fortune and require a private army.  Even with walls that were twice as high and an entire fleet of Atlesians, Ruby could pick out glaring weaknesses in the darkness.

This entire place had been a dumb idea.

“The workers lived here?” she asked, turning towards her sister and Blake.  After Blake nodded, Ruby looked out of the window as the ship headed towards the tall building.  If the workers had lived here when the place was overrun…

“Did they make it out?” she asked.

“Some.  Not all.”

Biting her lip at Blake’s honest answer, Ruby nodded in understanding.  It would be difficult to mass evacuate a facility like this because there weren’t many obvious pick up points besides the fountain.  And, even though they weren’t far from the edge of Vale, it would still take a few minutes to get enough airships out here.  A few minutes when Grimm were bursting through the walls was a few minutes too many...

Her stomach dropped again as the ship began to climb out of the relative safety of the treeline towards the top of the building.  Her nerves, which had been pretty mellow up to this point, suddenly came roaring into existence.  

This was it - they were here.  

It was only seconds later that they reached altitude and the door of the transport dropped open - the wind rushing in making her eyes instantly water.  From their current position, they were looking down at the rooftop of a building, which was only just illuminated by the soft moonlight.

“Looks like there’s a big pack of ‘wolves about a mile from here!” the pilot shouted to them over the loud droning of the engines spilling through the open doorway.  “Keep it quiet and they should move on.”

“Got it!” Yang shouted back to the man before giving him a thumbs up.

Grabbing onto her necklace, Ruby briefly closed her eyes and wished that this would go well - that they would all make it out of here safe and sound.  There wasn’t time to do anything more because Yang was already unbuckling her seatbelt - Blake and Weiss following suit.  Ruby quickly followed their lead before jumping up and grabbing Crescent Rose from under her seat.

“Here we go!” Yang yelled over the engines before motioning Ruby to follow. 

If she had butterflies, they were instantly replaced by pure adrenaline when she watched her sister run forward and jump out of the transport like it was nothing.  After staring into the darkness for a second in awe of her sister’s fearlessness, Ruby was gently nudged forward.  Looking over one shoulder, she caught Blake’s eyes - and Blake nodded for Ruby to jump out next. 

This was the moment she’d been training for.  This was the moment she’d spent so many painful hours training for.  She hadn’t thought it would start by jumping out of the back of an airship, but this just made it even better. 

Shooting a quick grin at Weiss - who was looking a little apprehensive at what was to come - Ruby took a deep breath and jogged several steps forward.  Picking up speed and refusing to hesitate or overthink the action, she coiled her muscles and leapt out into the night sky.  

For one amazing moment, it felt like she might hang there forever - floating on the breeze like a leaf or a snowflake - but gravity swiftly grabbed hold of her and dropped her to the gravel-covered rooftop like a rock.  Keeping her feet underneath her, she landed in a crouch that was decently quiet considering she hadn’t thought to practice jumping out of an airship before.  

Straightening up, she spotted Yang by the entrance to the building, but before heading over looked up as Weiss dropped to the rooftop beside her.  Weiss landed in a crouch, just like Ruby, before standing up and lightly shaking her long ponytail.  Blake appeared immediately after, her own arrival dead quiet compared to Ruby’s.

The airship pulled away and quickly disappeared - leaving them alone in nearly complete darkness on the rooftop, their only light coming from the partially hidden moon in the sky.  Without the sound of the engines, it was suddenly quiet - almost alarmingly so.

“Orient yourself,” Blake said quietly.  Caught off guard by the instruction, Ruby spun around and tried to figure out where she was.  The moon was behind her, so that meant…

“North?” she asked, pointing in a direction and looking to Blake for confirmation.  With a quick nod, Blake led them over to Yang at the doorway.

“You’re doing great,” Weiss whispered to Ruby as they jogged after Blake.  The words made Ruby really happy, but when she glanced over she noticed that Weiss had her hands clenched into tight fists - almost as if she was trying to keep them from trembling.

“Are you ok?” Ruby asked, but Weiss waved the question off and motioned for Ruby to focus on Yang as they regrouped at the door.

“Ten minutes,” Yang whispered, tapping the communication device strapped around her wrist where a countdown was displayed in bright green numbers.  “Gotta hurry.”

Taking a deep breath and nodding to Blake, Yang pulled the door open with a quick, loud pop of the lock giving way.  

The silence left behind by the airship, which had felt deafening at first, seemed to have disappeared.  As her ears adjusted, Ruby could hear more and more sounds - and it sounded like the entire forest was moving around them.  It was nothing like the sleepy, nighttime streets of Vale.  There, the crickets and trees were quiet as whispers.  Out here - far from the city - the leaves were rustling so loudly it was hard to believe the noise was the result of the wind alone.  But when Ruby turned towards the trees, she found nothing but darkened shapes swaying in the steady breeze.  

This was the sound of a nighttime forest, alive in its own way.

Feeling a warm hand press her forward, she followed Blake through the doorway with Yang on her heels and Weiss bringing up the rear.  

If it was hard to see outside, then entering the stairwell was like becoming completely blind.  There wasn’t even a glimmer of moonlight to provide guidance, so Ruby had no idea how Blake was running down the steps without falling on her face.  Thankfully, Yang lit up a light when they were all inside, shining it over Ruby’s shoulders so she could follow Blake down flights and flights of stairs.  Their shadows bounced eerily off the walls, moving in fast, disjointed motions, while there was no sound except for their feet hitting concrete, their clothes rustling, and their breathing growing a little heavier.

After reading the hunt information, Ruby felt like she had a good grasp on where they were headed, but Blake was moving so confidently it was as if she’d actually been here before.  Had Blake done more research on the schematics of the building?  Like found an actual blueprint of the offices?  Because that was a good idea that Ruby totally should’ve thought of.

The four of them raced down the staircases before coming to a door with a large number ten painted beside it.  The tenth floor.  Hardly breaking stride, Blake quickly pried the door open and shot inside with Ruby directly behind, her eyes scanning the room as they entered.

The entire floor was open - a gigantic space with desks and chairs cluttered across much of it.  Along one wall ran a set of what looked like miniature laboratories - complete with fancy-looking machines tucked behind thick glass walls and heavy security doors.  Some of the labs had been completely destroyed by some unknown force - the walls pulverized and machines laying in ruin.  

Squeezing through a set of desks on the path Blake was setting for them, Ruby tried to ignore the dark stains on the walls and floors whenever Yang’s flashlight jumped over them.  Those were probably just the result of some science experiment, or a trick the darkness was playing on her, not...anything else…

They were making a straight line from the staircase to the opposite side of the building, where she could make out a set of offices.  As they jogged in that direction, she made sure to sweep her eyes around the extent of the room looking for potential hazards.  If there was any benefit to being in a building made of glass, it was that they had 360 degrees of visibility - which was worth basically nothing since the only thing she could see outside was black night and dark trees.  

Approaching the row of square offices, Blake broke into a run to check the nameplates hanging outside the relatively intact glass rooms.

“This is it,” she said, tapping the name and slipping inside one of the offices.

“Ruby, watch the door,” Yang directed while Blake and Weiss both set to work rapidly opening and closing the filing cabinets lining the office walls in search of what they were after.  Weiss was holding her own light now and using it to scan the folders, while Blake operated in the darkness without a second thought.  Yang glanced at her watch for the time before heading over to the windows and looking in all directions for any danger.  

Watch the door.  It wasn’t the most glamorous of duties, but Ruby was still going to give it her all!  Although, she probably didn’t need to stand right in front of the door since the entire office was basically a fish bowl, but she did as she’d been told while watching her partners out of the corner of her eye.  Not that she could see much in the low light.  If only she had Blake’s vision...

“I found the year,” Weiss announced quietly and Blake rushed over to that cabinet to help Weiss search.  

The fact that they were whispering only made the darkness creepier.  Like, if they were speaking in normal voices this would feel more like they were just robbing some building - that wouldn’t be too scary.  Whispering was what you did when you were hiding from something, but what were they hiding from?

Ruby’s gaze drifted away from the office and back to the lifeless floor they’d just run across.  Whatever had happened here couldn’t have been good.  From the outlines of toppled chairs and desks turned on their sides, it looked like everyone had left in a very big hurry.

While looking at a desk that was completely upside down, her eyes caught a glimpse of something that was out of place - at least, strange enough to catch her attention.  It was nothing more than a glint near the staircase they’d used to get here, but it was definitely something.  

Squinting her eyes, she tried to see what it was.  With her pathetic human eyes she saw absolutely nothing, but her gut told her to keep looking - so did the prickling feeling of the hairs rising on her arms and back of her neck.

“Yang,” she whispered towards her sister, not breaking her gaze away from the doorway.  When her sister didn’t respond, she glanced away for a split second to find Yang was helping the other two search through files. 

“Yang!” she hissed louder, finally getting Yang’s attention.  “I think there’s something -” 

Turning back to the doorway, Ruby froze and her blood ran cold when she realized what the glint had been.

Claws.  

Now visible above those giant claws were glowing red eyes - lots and lots of glowing red eyes.

“We have company,” she whispered, unfolding Crescent Rose and staring at the Grimm collecting at the far end of the building.  From this distance, she could just barely make out their hulking black outlines as they crawled out of the stairwell.  More of them were creeping along the ground and pulling themselves over the destroyed desks, their claws scraping and scratching against the wood.  All were approaching slowly, hesitantly, waiting to grow in number before attacking.

Heart pounding, her body was preparing itself for battle - muscles tensing and breaths slowing to a controlled, steady pace.  She squeezed Thorn around Crescent Rose, feeling the glove tightly clutch her weapon before releasing.

She was ready, but they weren’t being attacked yet.  They still had time.  They could still complete the mission.

“It has to be here somewhere!” Blake whispered in exasperation.  “If it’s not here, then -”

Blake didn’t finish that thought before Ruby heard a muffled groan.  “There’s a safe under the desk.  It has to be in here.”

“Can you open it?” Yang asked, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Ruby and only briefly turning back to the office behind them.

“With enough time, maybe!” Blake whispered back, her voice slightly muted from under the desk.

“I could just pull the door off its hinges?” Yang offered, flexing her fingers in preparation.

“Sweetie - as much as I admire your ability to rip apart pieces of metal, sometimes people have already taken that into consideration!”

Glancing at Ruby, Yang gave a small shrug before turning her full attention to the approaching Grimm.  She was tense, but also at ease - although Ruby couldn't tell if that was just for her sake or not.

“What do we do?” she asked, watching the red eyes inch closer and closer.  Raising her fists, Yang calmly checked the shotgun shells in her gauntlets.

“What do you think we should do?”   

Right now really didn’t seem like the time for a teaching moment, but it didn’t seem like the time to complain either.  

As the intensity increased, Ruby’s brain sped through scenarios at warp speed.  She needed to relax and recall what she’d studied - examine the terrain, locate exits, evaluate the enemy, make a decision.

“We...wait for them to make the first move.  Try to funnel them through the door to slow them down and give Blake more time.”  

While Ruby spoke, Yang barely tilted her chin in acceptance of the plan.  Ruby watched the Grimm and imagined the room behind them with the other two huntresses still searching.  That was a good start to an exit strategy, but - 

“But then...how do we get out?” she whispered.  “Fight through them to the staircase?”

There was no response from Yang while she waited for Ruby to puzzle it out, which would’ve been a lot easier to do if she wasn’t pumping with adrenaline.  But think - think, Ruby Rose.  There were always two exits in any situation - the one you used to get in and the one you hadn’t yet created to get out.

Finally, it dawned on her.

“The windows -”

Never turning her eyes away from the Grimm, Yang nodded in silent agreement.  

Was it safe to wait that long though?  Yang wouldn’t let them stay if it wasn’t safe, right?

There was no time to second guess anything now.  The plan was set and they were waiting - hoping that the Grimm would put off their assault until Blake and Weiss were successful.  

Ruby could now see that they were facing Beowolves, and a lot of them.  The creatures were creeping on all fours through the jumbled maze of furniture, close enough that she could vividly make out red designs on eerie white skulls.

Flexing Thorn, she gripped the handle of Crescent Rose tightly - finding reassurance and confidence in how her glove locked together with her weapon.

“We don’t have much time…” Yang whispered out of the side of her mouth.

“Weiss, I need your help,” Ruby heard Blake say.  

Another sound caught Ruby’s attention then - a strange scratching noise that seemed to come from all directions.  Not turning her head, but flicking her eyes to the side, she found that there were more Beowolves climbing up the side of the building.

Still, Yang stood her ground at the doorway, and Ruby did the same.  The Beowolves were too close to risk turning around again - close enough that Ruby could hear their creepy, raspy breathing and smell the overwhelming odor of old garbage.  

She’d never been this close to a Grimm before, but she didn’t feel afraid.  Even though these creatures were bent upon her destruction, she was surprisingly at peace with the situation.  Sure, her heart was pounding, but it was from adrenaline, not fear.

And the adrenaline was building...because she knew that any second the attack would come…

“You ready?” Yang whispered, nudging Ruby’s elbow.  Before Ruby could reply, she heard what sounded like ice cracking.

“Got it!” Blake shouted.  

Blake’s voice broke whatever barrier had been keeping the Beowolves at bay, sending them all charging forward at once.  As snarls filled the air, Yang grabbed Ruby by the arm and spun her around.  Her feet were running before she even thought to tell them to, and two shotgun blasts went off before the sound of shattering glass filled her ears.  When her sister pulled her out of the office window, Ruby closed her eyes right before the shards hit her face.

The next second they were falling - the glass tumbling with them to the ground.  Ruby opened her eyes to the howls of Beowolves plummeting off the building with them, thankfully far enough away to not be an immediate threat.  

The free fall only lasted a couple seconds before she spun and planted her feet underneath her, hitting the ground with a soft thud that sent impact shooting through her feet and knees.  Shards of glass rained down on her head and shoulders before she was up and chasing after Yang, briefly turning to make sure Blake and Weiss were already up and running too.  Sparing a glance up at the office where they’d just been, she found the building was covered in Beowolves, many that had just noticed their escape and were headed back down to pursue them.

“Secondary pick up!” Yang shouted while pressing a button on her watch that turned the numbers from green to yellow.

“How long?” Weiss yelled from behind Ruby as the four of them tore through the streets towards the fountain.

“Three minutes.”

Weiss muttered something under her breath that sounded an awful lot like a swear word, but Ruby couldn’t hear very well over the howling of Beowolves and the pounding of her heart in her chest.

“We can hold them,” Blake huffed from Ruby’s other side, before straining her legs and pulling in front of both Ruby and Yang to lead the way.

The moon had come out from behind the clouds, illuminating the empty streets far more brightly than when they’d arrived several minutes ago, but Ruby still had no idea where they were going.  She’d memorized the map, but it hadn’t been very detailed when it came to the streets.  Thankfully, they were following Blake’s lead...and it seemed like Blake knew exactly where she was going.

Flashes of movement caught Ruby’s eye in every direction, but she never saw the sources.  There wasn’t time to double check for enemies, as she was too busy focusing on keeping her feet moving, staying upright, and breathing properly in order to conserve as much energy as possible.  

The buildings abruptly fell away when they rushed into the large, open square with the fountain standing in the middle.  Their feet didn’t stop running until they’d reached the partially destroyed construct - its foundation was cracked, and chunks of stone were missing from the sculpture on top.

“Ruby, you still have the flare I gave you?” Yang asked as they turned away from the fountain towards the edge of the courtyard - the courtyard that was quickly filling with Grimm.

Fumbling in her pocket, Ruby pulled out the flare and peeled off the top.  These were special flares - very powerful, very bright.  She’d given Yang such a hard time about bringing them along, but obviously her sister had known best.

“Ok, we each get one quad of the square,” Yang instructed calmly, sliding to Ruby’s left while Blake took up position to Ruby’s right.  “Call out if you need help.  Ready...light ‘em up!”

Pulling the tab, Ruby threw the flare as far as she could towards the edge of the town square, briefly shielding her eyes to prevent herself from being blinded by the bright light.  After dropping her arm and opening her eyes, she found a swarm of Beowolves in front of her.  

The creatures howled at the suddenly bright area and charged.  

The sound of rapid bullets was followed by the flares bursting into a shower of sparks as the Grimm stepped over them, causing many of the creatures to scatter in every which direction in surprise - but it only caused a slight pause in their rush.

Ruby’s muscles tensed in anticipation as the Beowolves raced towards her - three across in the first row.  They were bigger than she’d expected them to be, with their wiry limbs giving them a far greater reach than she’d expected.  Taking that into consideration, she’d have to attack sooner than she thought she would.  Which was right about….now.

Blitzing forward, she swept through the first three with one long swing of Crescent Rose.  The Beowolves immediately disintegrated into black ash, letting her know she’d gotten quick kills, but there were already more to take their place.  

Making sure her back was always to the monument, Ruby vaguely heard the sound of shotgun blasts to her left and glimpsed rapid shadow clones to her right.  But more than that, she heard the cries and growls of Grimm - lots of them.  And the more they howled - the more noise they made - the more other Grimm in the area would show up to the party.

Lopping the heads off of two Beowolves with a quick back-forth combo, she then drew back Crescent Rose and flung the weapon into a large crowd that had formed in front of her.  Three managed to escape, but four more fell as she immediately summoned Crescent Rose back to her.  Catching the weapon while racing towards the survivors of the group, she beheaded them the instant Thorn latched onto the weapon.

Skidding to a stop, she found that a vertical line of six had appeared.  Was she fast enough?  Her semblance shot her forward, drawing a line through the Beowolves before planting Crescent Rose in the ground, leaving the weapon behind and sending herself flying back to the center of the courtyard.  While she was still in transit, she summoned her weapon after her - allowing it to plow through two more Grimm before catching it when she finally stopped, and immediately using it to destroy three more Grimm in three easy, swift blows.

Big, lanky, but surprisingly easy to kill.  Their lack of armor provided zero resistance to Crescent Rose and, unlike Blake and Yang, their ability to dodge or deflect was basically nonexistent.  Plus, they weren’t very smart.  It was almost like fighting against some pillows - which wasn’t very fair to pillows.

Five more, six more Beowolves disappeared before her ears picked up something different.  There were the howls of Grimm, the cries and growls and roars and scratching of claws tearing across the street, but a new noise had just been added to the mix.  

It sounded like a something was pounding its way through the streets, sending tremors through the ground.  Clearing out a patch of Grimm as she turned towards the source of the noise, her eyes widened when a full-sized Death Stalker charged into the square, shoving over the remnants of a small building while doing so.

She’d seen pictures and videos before, but nothing could have prepared her for the real deal.

It was huge.  Like...gargantuan huge.  Its rows of tiny legs managed to move it surprisingly fast, while pincers the size of a small car made a terrifying loud clacking sound when they snapped together.  The stinger, glowing dangerously yellow and towering over the courtyard, swayed back and forth - ready and willing to snap forward in an instant.

Nothing but Beowolves - that’s what Yang had said.  But the Death Stalker was in Ruby’s quadrant...and it was charging straight towards her.

“Ruby, don’t!” she heard Yang yell just as she’d begun spooling up her semblance for a potential attack.  Obediently waiting, she prepared herself to dive out of the way when Blake or Yang showed up.  Which would hopefully be soon, cuz it was getting rather close...

But it wasn’t Blake or Yang who showed up to help.  Instead, it was a giant, ghostly soldier who suddenly appeared - at least twelve feet tall and carrying a sword Ruby could never dream of picking up.  One swing of that sword cleared out a group of at least ten Beowolves before the soldier rushed the Death Stalker without hesitation.  Ruby watched in stunned awe as, right before reaching the Grimm, the soldier split into two - two massive soldiers converging on a single Grimm that now looked pretty puny in comparison.

“Oh holy Grimm.  Blake - get Weiss’ back!” she heard Yang yell from behind her.  Ruby briefly turned around and found that Weiss was following the soldier’s movements intently, while Blake slid over to maintain positioning behind her.

The Death Stalker struck first with its stinger - lashing out like a bolt of lightning.  One soldier deflected the attack with his sword while the second fearlessly grabbed the stinger in one hand.  Before the Grimm could react, the first soldier’s sword seamlessly swung back around and separated the stinger from the creature in one powerful blow.  Rearing up in anger, the Death Stalker managed to clasp one of its powerful pincers around the second soldier’s legs, but he didn’t seem to notice.  Instead, he dropped the stinger to the ground and used both hands to plunge his sword down through the plating on the creature’s back - one, two, three, four times until the Grimm stilled. 

As the great Death Stalker disintegrated, the soldier still clasped in its claw also disappeared from view.  A pack of Beowolves was descending on the remaining soldier - who swung his sword in a giant loop and took out six in one easy blow.  But there were twice as many to replace them - the air filling with more and more howls of anger.  

“Ruby!  We need you to create a perimeter!  Hold them back!”

Slicing through two more Beowolves who’d skirted around the giant soldiers, Ruby risked a glance towards her sister.

“Create a perimeter?  How?”

“Your semblance!”

Oh.  Duh.  That would work, wouldn’t it?

Calling upon her semblance, Ruby raced forward like a shot out of a cannon, sweeping through a line of Beowolves as she did so.  Skidding to a stop and turning right, she took off again - running fast.  With Crescent Rose extended to her left, held firmly within Thorn’s grasp, she caught any Grimm in her path while making sure to duck or dodge any attacks swung her way.  The first circle she completed was tight and close to her partners, but the second she pushed further out and ran even harder.

It was really awesome.  The first few lines of Beowolves fell like timber, not even slowing down as they ran into her blade of destruction.  By the time she made it through four or five circles, the remaining Grimm got a little smarter  - they started trying to back up and jump over her instead of running straight through, their intent obvious from the tightening, bunching muscles in their legs.

If she wanted to keep them back, she needed to go faster.  Fast enough that even if one jumped, she’d complete a full circle and be back in time to snatch it from the air.  

Her legs and lungs were beginning to scream as she pushed herself harder than she’d ever pushed herself before.  There was a veritable snowstorm of rose petals kicking up around her, but she pushed onward.  Her energy was rapidly depleting, but there was also something new at the very edge of her grasp - a level of speed she’d yet to experience.  If she tried a little harder, she could reach it -

A loud pop suddenly echoed through her head.  Confused, she kept running for several laps until she realized that something was wrong.  Slowing down, she looked around in surprise.

Everything had stopped.  Not completely, but the world was now moving in slower than slow motion -  even though she was still moving like normal.  Beowolves were frozen in time, some of them just starting to open their jaws to howl, some stretching their arms forward in an attempt to grab her where she’d once been.  

Looking back, her companions were still collected around the fountain, with an airship just beginning to appear over their heads.  Yang was mid-punch, about to take out a Beowolf in a single blow.  Blake was doing a slow somersault in mid-air, while Gambol rained bullets down on a group of three Grimm.  Weiss had Myrtenaster aimed towards another Beowolf, shimmering blue lights collecting at the end of her weapon.

Two more Death Stalkers had appeared on either side of the square, the buildings they’d just crashed through toppling in freeze frame.  The remaining giant soldier was swinging his massive sword through a crowd of Grimm, moving a millimeter at a time.

“Ok…” Ruby whispered to herself, finding that she was breathless and growing more exhausted while she wasn’t even moving.  

She had no idea what was going on - she was clearly using an abundance of energy without realizing it - but she wasn’t going to waste an opportunity like this just because it didn’t make sense.  

Grasping onto whatever feeling increased her fatigue, figuring that’s what was keeping her in this state, she dashed around as quickly as possible - cutting through all of the Beowolves and putting several hundred rapid stabs into each Death Stalker, right in their weak point underneath a gap in the plating.

Yang had said ‘nothing but Beowolves,’ but she hadn’t mentioned anything about frozen Death Stalkers…

The more Ruby moved, the more exhausted she grew and the heavier her head began to feel.  It wasn’t even thirty seconds that she was in this weird time freeze state before her mind couldn’t keep up with it anymore, and everything started to unravel.  When time began speeding up, she headed towards Yang - knowing that they’d be jetting away on the ship soon.

Everything was moving faster and faster with each passing moment - like everything had been frozen but was now rapidly catching up to real time.  If the feeling she’d grabbed onto was like a string, it was pulling out of her hands and she had absolutely no energy left to hang onto it.  Another pop sounded in her mind when it disappeared and everything suddenly jumped from 50% to full speed.  

Not expecting the rapid time shift, she might have face planted on the ground.  Apparently, it was a little difficult to jog while time warped back to normal...

“Ruby!”  

Yang was rushing forward to help, but Ruby pushed herself to her feet and ran to her sister while their ship dropped in from the sky.  There was an odd moment of silence that caused her to turn around right as a giant black cloud swept into the air - the result of her not-so-hard work.  

For that single second, the square was nearly clear of Grimm.

“What did you…?” Yang began to ask while staring at the sudden emptiness, only to grab Ruby’s arm and pull her along instead.  “Help Weiss into the ship.”

More Grimm were already arriving.  A spotlight suddenly shone down from above, followed closely by the loud whirring of engines and wind rushing down into the clearing.  Looking up, Ruby found the airship hovering over the fountain waiting to pick them up.  Wasting no time, she ran over and wrapped one arm around Weiss’ waist.  Weiss seemed completely spent, so Ruby lifted her off her feet and carried her up the fountain.  It helped that Weiss was super light or that Ruby was super strong.  One of those.

The door to the ship was lowered and Blake was already waiting there - motioning them to move faster while Yang was fending off the Grimm from behind them, shotgun blasts repeatedly echoing through the air.  When Ruby reached Blake, the two of them together lifted Weiss into the back of the transport before jumping in themselves.  

“Lift off!” Blake shouted to the pilot, who immediately pulled the ship into the air while Blake threw Gambol Shroud from the open doorway, one hand grasping a handle in the transport while the other strained in swinging Yang aboard.  Yang immediately pressed a round green button inside the ship and the ramp lifted and closed, causing a sudden sucking sound of air before it sealed shut and everything grew quiet.

All four of them were out of breath, and Ruby could feel an underlying layer of exhaustion in her semblance, but it really felt like she could keep going for hours more.  She wanted to keep going - she wanted to fight more!  

“That was so awesome!!!” she exclaimed, spinning around in a circle and tossing Crescent Rose onto the floor of the ship, only to summon the weapon back into her hand a second later.  

Her companions all gave her varying degrees of smiles - Yang’s by far the largest.

“Yang!  You’re so freaking good!” Ruby said, rushing over to check over Ember Celica for any damage.  Satisfied that the gauntlets held up, she ran to Blake next.  “And Blake!  Those clones of yours were like whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!  Everywhere!”

After Blake gave her a small smile, Ruby turned to Weiss.

“Weiss!  What the heck were those giant soldier dudes??  Holy crapoly were they ever cool!  I mean - did you see him take out like fifteen Beowolves with one swing?”  Ruby pretended like she was wielding a giant sword and swung it through the air like he had, letting go and shielding her eyes from the pretend sun while imaginary Grimm went flying over the buildings.  “That had to be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!”

“I’m...glad you like him...” Weiss murmured, looking moderately embarrassed by Ruby’s words.

“Is he the same every time?  What’s his name?” Ruby asked as a million other questions came to mind.  “He looks like a...Chester.  Or Renaldo.  Maybe a…a...what’s another guy name??”

“Ronnie?” Blake suggested, the name making Ruby burst into giggles.

“Ronnie!  That’s so perfect!  Like, ‘oh hey, wanna meet my friend Ronnie?’  It sounds so safe, and then in stomps this huge freaking giant!”

When she was really excited, she talked a lot.  Like now.  When she noticed that she was doing it again, she could normally force herself to cut it out.  Like now.  Cut it out!  But she couldn’t.  Her skin was practically vibrating with electricity right now!

“You ladies know how to draw quite the crowd!” the pilot yelled back to them from the cockpit.  

“You know we’re the life of the party!” Yang replied with a grin, before sitting back in her seat and letting out a big sigh.  “Well...that didn’t exactly go as planned.”

Rolling her eyes, Blake leaned into Yang’s side.  “Does it ever?”

”What did you get, anyway?” Ruby asked.  Reaching into a nearly invisible pocket, Blake pulled out a tiny memory drive.

“I hope it’s what we were looking for,” she answered, flipping the device over in her hand.

Clenching her fist in success, Ruby turned back to Weiss - only to find that she had closed her eyes and was leaning her head back against the headrest.  The sight instantly calmed Ruby down...because something about Weiss’ posture made her worried.  

Stowing Crescent Rose under one of the seats, Ruby finally sat down.  

“Weiss,” she said as softly as she could.  Clear blue eyes opened and found hers - sending a tiny tremor through her chest.  “Are you feeling ok?”

“Yes, just...tired...” Weiss replied, giving Ruby what was probably supposed to be a reassuring smile, but really wasn’t.  “You did really well…”

The words should’ve made Ruby really happy, but she was still concerned.  Glancing across the ship, she found that Yang was watching Weiss thoughtfully while Blake whispered in her ear.  After Blake finished speaking, Yang nodded and looked away.  

If neither of them were super concerned, maybe Ruby didn’t need to be, but it seemed like Weiss wasn’t feeling very well.  Whenever Ruby felt crappy, it made her feel better when Yang would hold her hand or rub her shoulder.  Maybe Weiss would feel the same?

Hesitantly, Ruby reached over and took one of Weiss’ hands in her own.  Weiss’ eyes flew open and she stared at Ruby for a second in confusion, but when Ruby smiled, Weiss smiled in return before closing her eyes and letting out a soft, content sigh.

The reaction made Ruby sigh in relief.  Leaning back in her seat with Weiss’ hand held in her lap, she thought about how...delicate...Weiss’ hands were.  And soft, but also strong from using Myrtenaster so much.  There were some hidden calluses - built up over time - that Ruby could feel underneath her fingertips.

With her free hand, Ruby lightly traced the back of Weiss’ hand - from Weiss’ wrist to the tips of her fingers and back again.  Feeling someone watching her, Ruby looked up and met Blake’s eyes - but Blake merely smiled before turning to the side and placing a soft kiss to the top of Yang’s head.  Even though it would only be a few extra minutes to the airship station closest to their home, Yang was already conked out and sleeping with her head on Blake’s shoulder.

The energy in the ship dwindled quickly as adrenaline faded to relief.  Ruby could feel the effect taking place in her own body - her muscles unwinding and her heartbeat slowing to a more normal pace.  A few minutes ago, she’d been charged with electricity - now, she felt...sleepy.

While the ship sped through the sky, Ruby focused her attention on the girl sitting beside her.  Without leaning forward she couldn’t tell if Weiss was sleeping or not, but Weiss never moved her hand from its position gently curled around Ruby’s.  It was a nice feeling - holding Weiss’ hand.  It was actually kind of funny because Ruby had meant to comfort Weiss with the gesture, but it ended up comforting herself as well.  Mutually beneficial...

Still tracing the back of Weiss’ hand, Ruby leaned close enough that her arm was pressed against Weiss’ side.  They always seemed to crank the air up in airships, so it was kind of cold - and she didn’t want Weiss to be cold.  Pleasantly surprised when Weiss made no effort to move away, Ruby settled in and enjoyed the warmth they were able to share.

This was also nice.  After the whirlwind of activity they’d just sprinted through, it was nice to relax, decompress, and just...be here together.  For each other.  The four of them - Blake with Yang, Weiss with Ruby.  It almost made her wish that the flight home would last a little longer...

As her own adrenaline wore off, it felt like sandbags were trying to weigh her eyes shut.  Her body was winding down and trying to put her to sleep, but her mind was still racing with so many questions.  Like how had the Grimm found them so quickly?  How had Blake broken into the safe?  What would’ve happened if the second evac point hadn’t worked and they’d had to ‘hoof it’ back to Vale?  Would the Grimm have pursued them all the way to the walls?  

And, most importantly, when could they do this again?  Because she wanted to do it again.  Like right away.  Or at least, as soon as Weiss felt better.