- - -
Qrow was, by nature, a light sleeper. It was part of Hunter training, to get the most bang for your buck when it came to sacking out and resting. That training also included being able to go from REM to combat readiness as quickly as possible.
Given his nightmares? That was a blessing.
He'd been sleeping better lately. Isabel had insisted on helping him with her medical knowledge. They were sharing the same space in the bullhead, after all, and she needed her REM too. Then again, she had freaky medical techniques that made her sleep better, so he didn't know why
he had to.
Still, no matter how good her medical aids were, Qrow still woke up the moment he subconsciously sensed something wrong.
His eyes were open and scanning around the bullhead rear compartment, his ears were listening for anything unusual, and his hands were on Harbinger in an instant.
He saw that Isabel wasn't on her bunk on the other side of the compartment. He got up and walked out of it, to the main section. He walked past the kitchenette, head, and the small table they ate their meals at. The cockpit was emitting light, and he heard tapping on keys. He also smelled tobacco smoke. He rose, silent as a cat, and stalked to the hatch. He held his weapon ready, and peeked around, ready to strike-
Isabel looked up from numerous holoscreens and papers, her hair down, her glasses on her eyes, and a cigarette in her mouth. She frowned.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" She asked softly.
Qrow scowled a little, discretely setting Harbinger aside outside the cockpit. He stepped in, rubbing his cheek in annoyance.
"The hell are you smoking for? Shouldn't a doctor know better?"
Isabel took a drag off the cigarette, and let it out in a stream of smoke. She shrugged.
"I can heal any damage to my lungs, and... Well... Nicotine helps me focus," she admitted. She chuckled softly. "It's a habit I dropped after I got pregnant... Funny me picking it back up, huh?"
She looked at Qrow in concern.
"If it bothers you-"
"No," Qrow shook his head, "No, it's fine." He smirked. "I have a few bad habits of my own, after all."
Isabel smirked a little.
"Yes, but mine makes me look
much sexier."
Qrow scoffed.
"It does
not."
Isabel adopted a coy, seductive look. Like a femme fatale in an old movie. She crossed her legs, leaned forward, and took a long drag off the cigarette. She then pursed her perfect lips together and blew out a cloud of smoke that seemed to wrap around her, shrouding her in mystery.
"... I concede the point," Qrow said, very quietly. Isabel laughed softly, as Qrow looked over all the screens. Most of them were incomprehensible to him, covered in numbers and graphs that made no sense. Some of them had spreadsheets and scans of body parts.
Aura Consumption Levels marked some of them, while others had acronyms and percentages that may as well have been ancient Mistralian for all the good they did him.
"What's all this?" Qrow asked. Isabel turned back to her screens, writing down some more notes in one of several paper notebooks.
"Ozpin sent us a data drive with medical data from a patient he wants me to look at," she said, "I had to go out to a dropbox while you were resting. Honestly, it's a real puzzle."
Ice dropped into Qrow's stomach. Outwardly, he remained somewhat interested and detached.
"Oh?"
"Mmhm," she nodded. She brought up a full body scan, one that omitted any features like hair or skin color. Isabel checked her notes over carefully.
"Human female, age 21, five foot eight inches in height, 152 pounds, Blood type O, Aura Active, no family medical history of significant disease or ailment."
She tapped her pencil eraser against her chin thoughtfully, the light from the screens reflecting off her glasses.
"In a coma for the last six months, but there's no brain damage, no oxygen deprivation, nothing on the tox screens... Metabolic functions are continuing to decrease despite a full life support system being employed, meaning it's related to her Aura. Which is... Where things get
weird."
"I'll bet," Qrow murmured. Isabel brought up even more charts and diagrams he didn't grasp, but Isabel continued to talk.
"Sustained Semblance usage past the point of Aura Exhaustion means you start drawing off the soul itself," Isabel went on, "At first I thought it was just a severe case of Aura Exhaustion. I've seen it before, sometimes fatally. But the symptoms are like nothing I've seen before. Aura Exhaustion that isn't fatal is usually something you can recover from. As long as you still have your soul, your Aura
will rebuild. The stress on your body might mean your physical state is weakened afterward, but you'll
still recover long term in most cases."
"So what's different here?" Qrow asked quietly.
"The Aura isn't replenishing, it's being drained," Isabel explained, "From the stress on her body, it's clear it's
trying to replenish the Aura, but it just keeps slipping away. As if it's vanishing!"
She scowled.
"Which is impossible. It can't just vanish without a trace! Even a Semblance would leave some kind of signature! It's almost as if it's being taken away... But how?"
Qrow was silent. He recognized that look in her eyes.
"You always did like elaborate traps," Qrow said softly, "Funny for a woman who can smash her way through walls with the flick of a finger."
Isabel flushed and scowled at Qrow.
"Qrow... I want to know what's going on," she said quietly. "That's all."
"You'd have to ask Ozpin-"
"I don't
trust Ozpin," Isabel stated firmly, fingers threatening to crush her notebook. Qrow's head bobbed in sympathy.
"I trust him... Mostly," he tempered his statement.
"I still trust you more than him," Isabel argued.
Qrow shook his head and let out a breath. "So I go and give away secrets he entrusted me with? Break Opsec for you?" He paused. "How could either of you ever trust me again?"
Isabel closed her eyes and smoked away her frustration. Qrow ran a hand through his hair.
"Look, until you agree to fully commit to our group," he said, carefully omitting Ozpin's name, "I can't just let you in on everything. You know that."
He worked his jaw and leaned back in the flight chair.
"That said... If you were smart enough to work things out on your own," Qrow said softly, "Then you'd become a security threat if I weren't to bring you in fully…"
Isabel stared at him wide-eyed. "Am I that close?"
Qrow turned and blinked as if just recalling she was there. "The frustrating thing is, if I told you the solution, you'd want to join."
"You're sure about that?"
Qrow shrugged. "Who can say?"
Isabel stared at him. She sucked in a deep breath of clean air, and let it out, her cigarette held between her fingers as she considered things. She slowly nodded.
"All right... This woman suffering from... From some kind of Aura drain that defies all modern medical knowledge," Isabel hummed, "I... I've examined that from every angle I can think of. Keeping her identity and location a secret means she's very important. Why, I don't know. Her Aura is extremely strong, even now, but that can't be the only reason."
She again went to her cigarette, puffing away as she thought.
"Is that an angle I can use to figure out the rest?" She asked him.
"That's not something I can tell you," Qrow said softly. Isabel sighed.
"All right... I'll leave it alone for now," she hummed. "Okay. For the last two months, we've been running around dealing with Grimm attacks around Vale and the frontier."
She tapped some commands into her Scroll and brought up several of the reports that they'd filed with Ozpin. Many pictures of various villages appeared.
"We've been working with local Huntsmen and Rangers to build up a map of Grimm activity," she went on, "And it's clear that it's escalating around Vale proper. But there's no major civil unrest or cultural movement going on to explain it."
"Right," Qrow said with a nod.
"Atlasian drones have seen similar mass Grimm migrations all over the Valean frontier," Isabel went on, "All headed in the same direction. It's not historically unprecedented, but it hasn't happened in recent memory."
"Mmhm," Qrow confirmed.
"However, this many Grimm coordinating with each other? That's
extremely unusual," Isabel lectured, "We've seen some instances of Grimm cooperation in the wild, but never among so many different species. Some species can work together for mutual benefit like normal animals, but never like this."
She stared intently at all the reports. Qrow could imagine her synapses were lit up like an electrical storm, the way her mind was going.
"This feels coordinated. Which is
ridiculous. So let's examine that. What if someone or something can, actually, in fact… coordinate Grimm. How?"
"That would be a neat trick if you could do it," Qrow agreed.
"Hmmm... I did attend a few presentations at some medical conferences by Doctor Merlot. He was an expert in neurology and was doing work on the neurology of the Grimm," Isabel said. "He posited the idea that we could control the Grimm and essentially domesticate them, get them on our side. It was pretty interesting stuff-A little outside my wheelhouse, but I was a Huntress so it was intriguing."
"What happened to this Merlot guy?" Qrow asked, frowning a bit. He didn't want to distract her too much, but the idea of people learning to control Grimm was too creepy a thought to ignore.
"He was getting some funding and media attention about..." Isabel screwed up her eyes in thought, "Five years ago? Atlas was very interested in his ideas. But he vanished. Just up and disappeared, no more scientific papers, media appearances, nothing."
Isabel paused and studied Qrow intently. Her eyes widened slightly.
"If a faction extradited Merlot and furthered his research..."
Qrow sucked in a breath. This... This was edging close to breaking his oaths, but...
"Assume Merlot was
removed, not poached," he said with a grimace. She couldn't go down that road without making a lot of bad assumptions.
"That only makes sense if someone wants the idea suppressed. So… one faction has this ability matured enough to the point they don't want any further research. Or at least they have a significant advantage, even if it isn't perfected. The only faction with the technology would be Atlas."
Isabel pursed her lips and knocked the cigarette against a cup, the ashen tip falling in, revealing the glowing end. "But why would they be doing this on such a large scale?" She asked, her mind continuing to go through the possibilities, "Is there some kind of war brewing against Vale by Atlas? I know Ironwood can be hardheaded and he and Ozpin have had their public tiffs, but... I don't think he's some kind of stupid warmonger."
She was so close. "Hardheaded? Yes," Qrow nodded, "Stupid? No. And he's on our side. He's not doing this."
"Then... Then who is?" Isabel asked. "Mistral maybe?"
"No," Qrow said.
"Can't be Vacuo, they don't have the industry or scientific base," Isabel mused, "Menagerie... Same problem. Even if White Fang wanted to control Grimm, they couldn't get the resources needed. So... Who's doing it?"
"Who's left?" Qrow asked softly, looking her right in the eyes. "If it's not Human or Faunus... Who is left?"
"Well... The only faction left is..."
Isabel stared out the windscreen of the bullhead, frozen like a statue. Her head slowly turned to face Qrow. She had gone very pale.
"... The
Grimm," she whispered.
Qrow made a short, curt nod.
"There's... An intelligence controlling the Grimm?!" Isabel asked, her eyes darting around as though they were surrounded.
"Yeah," Qrow nodded.
"Then we're maintaining operational security because..." Isabel stared intensely at Qrow again. "Because if I were an intelligence controlling the Grimm, I wouldn't just use Grimm," she murmured, "I would use human agents. Intermediaries. To spy on humanity. To undermine it."
Qrow nodded again, his eyes never leaving hers.
"Yeah," he said, "And we don't know... We can't know... Everyone we can trust."
Isabel stared back out at the Valean wilderness through her bullhead screen for a long, silent moment. She pulled out another cigarette, lit it, and sucked down a very long drag before letting it out. Only then did she finally speak.
"I'm going to need a fucking drink for this, aren't I?"
Qrow snorted in morbid laughter, as he pulled out his flask.
"We
both will."
- - -
It had been a few days since Qrow had brought her in. Well, to a point. There were still some things he couldn't speak about without Ozpin, but it gave her a much clearer picture of the situation. They'd been called by Ozpin, and Qrow informed him Isabel had figured some of it out-Enough, at least, to be offered to join them fully. The last transmission with Ozpin, he'd said as much. Ozpin hadn't overtly reacted, but his nods seemed a little less stiff and his manner a tiny bit less formal.
To really join them, though, Ozpin said Isabel would have to come to Beacon.
"
There's no rush, Isabel," Ozpin had said kindly,
"Really. In all honesty, you two are doing so much more than you think. Having you as a trusted ally with Qrow does much to put my mind at ease. So do not think you need to rush back. I will explain everything when you come."
"I thank you for that, Headmaster," Isabel said with a nod.
"
Might I suggest the end of next school semester?" Ozpin asked.
Isabel looked up in shock.
"Are... Are you sure? That seems like a long time-"
"There is still much to do and investigate," Ozpin stated calmly, "
You are more useful out there than here, Isabel. Besides... If you join us, your skills must be back up to par. Especially for combat."
Isabel looked at Qrow. He was reclining in the copilot's chair, totally at ease. He shrugged.
"I'm planning on seeing Ruby and Yang around that time," he said, "You can see Jaune too. By then... I think you'll both be in a much better place."
Jaune... She so wanted to see him. To hug him, to talk to him. To apologize for everything, and bring him home.
Rushing back right now though...
She nodded slowly.
"I will see you then, Headmaster," she said quietly, "Do try to keep my son busy? I don't want him slacking off."
Ozpin smiled that damn mysterious smile of his.
"
Mister Arc is certainly not sitting around idle. I assure you. He's been getting along very well with the students, from what I have been told."
"Good," Isabel said with a nod, "Maybe put him to work in the nurse's office or somewhere-"
"Isabel," Qrow said, calm but firm. Isabel sighed but managed a nod.
"Just... Make sure he's being useful. I know he hates feeling like he's contributing nothing."
Ozpin nodded, sipping his coffee.
"
Mm. He is like you and Nick in that regard," he complimented her. Isabel smiled, proud despite everything.
"He's our son."
Ozpin then sighed heavily.
"
This next mission... May be difficult for you, Isabel," he said. "
There are reports of Grimm coordinating their attacks, and Hunters vanishing in the vicinity of a certain town. I believe you're familiar with it."
It was not a question. A map of a certain town appeared on the screen. She felt Qrow's concerned look, but she stared at the name of the town with a blank expression.
"Yes. I know. Rotofield."
Ozpin paused, as Qrow sat up.
"
If you feel you cannot-"
"I can handle it," Isabel said, calm but firm. Ozpin nodded.
"
Very well. Until the next transmission."
The holowindow vanished. Isabel started up the bullhead. The engines roared to life, and they slowly rose as Qrow kept an eye on his instruments.
"You're sure you're okay?" He found himself asking her.
Isabel sighed softly.
"It's been... A little overwhelming lately, I'll admit," she said, "Learning I've been roped into a secret war to save the world is..."
"Yeah," Qrow said with a soft nod, "I get it."
Isabel's eyes focused out at the horizon and narrowed as she accelerated their craft.
"But now I know
something, someone is controlling the Grimm," she said, her tone cold and hard, "
Someone made them kill Nick.
Someone made them kill a
lot of people. Someone
still is. That someone... Needs to
die. And I'll do everything I can in my power to make sure
that happens."
Qrow smiled at the tone. She sounded like she had back in the good old days when a bunch of just-graduated Huntsmen and Huntresses thought they could take on the world.
If I was Salem, I'd be worried right now, he thought, as they flew off at high speed.
- - -
Rotofield wasn't too large a town. While it had a railroad station and walls, it was really just one of hundreds of stops along the great Valean Intercontinental Railway system. It crouched in the shadow of the Valean mountain range, separating Vacuo and Vale proper. There was Dust and other mining, farming, and a few other odds and ends. It had the mountains to its back, which helped make it very defensible.
It also had a small automobile industry-Just two factories, but thanks to Atlaesian technologies, it could produce a fair amount and ship them all over the continent.
They arrived in the city proper, docking at the local airship port. Qrow emerged first, and walked up to the dock official. He was a bored-looking, soggy kind of man who had lived a rough life and was letting himself go in middle age. He looked over Qrow in boredom.
"Names and business?" He asked blandly.
"Qrow Branwen and-"
"Raven Branwen."
Qrow glanced back, his eyes widening just a hair. Isabel emerged from her Bullhead with wild black hair, red eyes, and a familiar sneer on her face: A pitch perfect copy of Raven when she graduated from Beacon.
The dock official raised an eyebrow.
"Married?"
"Siblings," Qrow said quickly, "Just doing some Hunting recon."
"All right, fee is fifty lien for the day, three hundred fifty lien for a full week," the worker said, "Enjoy your stay."
Isabel paid the man, and they left. Qrow gave her a strange look as they walked out into the open streets, where people went about their daily lives and cars trundled around the rough but paved streets. There was a statue in the center of the town nearby, where a few tourists were gathered.
Isabel shrugged.
"It's been a while since I shifted my appearance like this, decided to try something I'd done before," she said.
"Why did you-?"
"To prank that mean, stuck-up bitch, of course," Isabel said with a smirk. "You should have seen her face when Verty Mortimer asked to see her
tits again."
In another time and place, he'd have found that funny. Right now though...
"Could have warned me," Qrow growled. Isabel batted her eyes at him.
"Aw... Big Brother, are you nervous around me?" She asked, smirking so much like Raven Qrow's fist clenched. She looked down at his hands and frowned.
"... Sorry," she said more softly. "I... I should have chosen someone you don't hate."
"Yeah, well... Should have told you about that," Qrow muttered.
"Do you have a preference?" She asked quietly.
For a moment, Qrow pictured Summer. Silver eyes, reddish black hair, a warm smile as she-
"Raven is fine for now," Qrow said, quickly and quietly. "Just... Warn me the next time you do that. It's..."
Isabel closed her eyes.
"Yeah... Sorry. I just... I don't want to be Isabel Arc in this town," she murmured. Her eyes wandered to the statue in the center of the square. Qrow looked at it as well.
"Do you want to visit the-?"
"No. Not right now," Isabel murmured. "Let's... Let's just get on with it."
Qrow nodded.
"Works for me."
- - -
They went on foot out of the city gates and headed deep into the forest. The coordinates Ozpin had indicated were fairly deep along a logging trail. They followed along, avoiding the local Grimm for the most part as Isabel took observations with her Scroll and notebook.
She had ditched the Raven appearance, which made Qrow feel a lot better... Yet the
image of Summer kept popping into his mind.
No, Qrow thought to himself,
I'll never ask for that. I can't
ask for that... Nick... Summer... Taiyang... I'm so sorry...
He wasn't some horny teenager anymore. He was a grown man... With a lot of regrets.
"We're almost to the area where the last sighting was reported," Qrow said, cutting through the brush with ease. "We should be done and back by..."
He looked back over his shoulder. Isabel was staring at a gap in the trees, where a well-traveled game trail intersected with the logging path.
"Isabel?" Qrow asked.
Her pupils expanded widely, as she enhanced her vision. The pupils shrank back down to normal.
She then broke into a run, vanishing into the forest. Qrow cursed.
"Isabel! Isabel!" He shouted. He shifted to bird form and flew after her. He spotted her blonde hair waving behind her like a flag as she dashed deeper into the forest. She ran into a wide field, an open space in the trees that let the sunlight in. There were mounds in the cleaning, covered in yellow flowers, and she came to a stop in front of one. One that had a few glints coming from underneath the flowers, sunlight being reflected off of metal.
He changed back from bird form, and landed behind her.
"Isabel? What the hell are you-?!"
She reached for the mound, and tore the vines and grasses away, frantically. Metal, leather, all worn, was swiftly revealed as the foliage was peeled away. Qrow's breath caught in his chest as Isabel tore away the growth to reveal the object of her labors.
It was a black and yellow motorcycle-Large, with twin, heavy tires for offroading in front and back. The seat was adjustable with the superstructure of the vehicle, allowing the rider to recline or sit up straight depending on how the bike was lifted. Two heavy mechanical skirts flanked the pedals on either side of the great vehicle. Despite the wear and tear of the elements, it still looked like a lean, aggressive wolf on the prowl.
"Guivre," Isabel whispered, tears threatening to fall, "It's here... It's been here all this time..."
Qrow frowned as Isabel looked over the machine, gloved hands tracing the familiar lines of the bike. Qrow sucked in a deep breath.
"Isabel..." He tried to speak, but nothing came. Isabel sniffled and laughed through her tears.
"I remember when he first bought this monstrosity, used," she murmured, sliding a hand over the torn leather of the seat, "He fixed it up all by himself. I remember... I remember when he took me riding with him. He was the only man whose driving scared me. I bet he drove like a maniac just to make me hold onto him harder."
Qrow slowly nodded, letting out a small chuckle.
"Yeah... Yeah. I remember him showing it off," he admitted. "Idiot got so many speeding tickets. Beat the shit out of me when I took it for a drunken joyride."
Isabel snickered, wiping her eyes.
"Y-Yeah... Yeah, I remember that... I remember..."
She ran her hands over some levers near the large metallic skirts. Qrow scooted out of the way as Isabel triggered a release. The skirts opened up and expanded, the mechashift mechanisms screeching from rust and age. Qrow looked around carefully, but no Grimm appeared. Isabel looked through the storage spaces, her eyes wide. She rummaged around, and picked up a large, metallic cylinder. Qrow recognized it immediately as Isabel stuttered.
"It's just an ammo magazine," she murmured, "Where... Where is-?"
"He wouldn't have kept his swords in here, Isabel," Qrow said softly, "Not when he died fighting."
Isabel froze. Qrow grit his teeth.
Shit... Shit... He'd had to go and say that... Right where her husband had died-
"No. No, it wouldn't be," Isabel murmured back. She sighed and shook her head, tucking the ammo cylinder into her belt.
"It's strange though," she spoke, patting the motorcycle seat with affection, "They couldn't find Guivre or his sword before when they searched the area. Why is it here now?"
Qrow felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. His Aura flashed a warning, and he went for Harbinger.
The ground rumbled, and
dropped right out from under them. Isabel fell. Qrow fell with her, as the vines gave way to a huge pit.
"ISABEL!"
"QROW!"
She reached out to him, but a white thread snapped out and snagged her from behind. She yelped as she was dragged down into darkness, along with the bike. Qrow followed, flying into the darkness and navigating carefully with his vision.
Isabel and the bike were dragged into a grotto, one covered in white filaments that glowed in the dim sunlight. The bike crashed down onto the rocky floor of the cave, splashing up water, as Isabel was reeled upwards. Qrow threw down a Dust flare that lit up the entire grotto. He growled, as Isabel looked up and gasped.
Twelve greedy eyes reflected the Dust Flare light. Eight were clustered around a huge, gaping black maw of drooling fangs, flanked by eight gigantic legs clutching the roof of the grotto. The final four were in a human head, atop a human female-like torso growing out of the head of the great Grimm Spider. It used unnaturally long arms with clawed fingers to reel in Isabel, and hissed with delight from a mouth full of shining white fangs underneath its bone white mask.
Sticking out of its huge abdomen was something familiar. The hilt of a sword. A
familiar sword.
"Isabel!" Qrow shouted, "I'll get you out of there-!"
"Get me free, Qrow!" Isabel snarled, "Get me free...
SO WE CAN KILL THIS BITCH AND GET BACK MY HUSBAND'S SWORD!"
- - -
Qrow sprang into action, launching himself in bird form into the air before shifting mid flight to bring Harbinger's rifle to bear on the Spider Grimm. His Dust rounds impacted the beast, making it shriek as it scuttled across the grotto roof. A few dozen rounds through the silk holding Isabel, and the blonde fell back towards the cave floor. Qrow shifted again to bird form to ascend higher, shifting out of it to swing Harbinger, now in sword form, right for its head!
He struck the neck... But his blade didn't go through.
"What the-?!"
Silken armor cracked underneath his blade. The Spider-Grimm turned its human-like head and
leered at him. Just before the hairs all over it's body stood up
ramrod straight, and were
launched.
Qrow grunted as the forearm-length projectiles struck him-Once, twice, three times-Before he shifted back into bird form and dove, wildly evading the
hail of deadly hairs.
The Spider Grimm shrieked as a rock hit it, the impact booming like a cannonball. Qrow looked: Isabel had picked up another boulder, and flung it at the Spider Grimm. The monster dodged, just barely, and unleashed another barrage of projectile hairs. Isabel held up her arms to shield her face as she ran, taking several hits as she dove for cover behind a rocky outcropping. Qrow flew recklessly, trusting his Semblance to ensure most of the projectiles missed him, as he dove for the same cover.
He landed behind it, where Isabel was crouched down and covering her head as the hail of shots continued to fall on them. He shifted to human form, kneeling down right beside her.
"Damn thing's using its silk as an extra armor layer," Qrow growled. "It also waited until I was at point-blank range to hit me with those hairs."
"The bitch is
smart," Isabel growled, "But we're
smarter. We need to get it down on the ground."
"On it," Qrow stated, hefting up Harbinger, "I need a distraction."
"You've got one."
Isabel nodded. Qrow took a deep breath.
"GO!"
Qrow shot out from behind cover in Bird form, quickly shifting to human in mid-air to unleash a punishing barrage of rounds at the Grimm Spider. The beast took several hits as it groped across the cave ceiling, before returning fire with its own missiles as a withering hail. Qrow again shifted into bird form, corkscrewing and barrel rolling like a dust plane ace.
"HEY! BITCH!"
Isabel hefted up a boulder the size of a van over her head. She grunted as projectiles rained on her improvised cover, and turned to glare up at the Grimm.
"FUCK YOU!"
She roared, throwing the boulder as
hard as she could. The Grimm barely swung out of the way, using various silk lines to trapeze its way out of the impact zone of the boulder.
Qrow flew overhead, shifted to human form, and
swung Haribinger through the silken lines, spinning like a tornado as his Aura cut the Grimm silk like a knife through hot butter.
"GUH!"
Unfortunately, he took hits from its projectile hairs in doing so and tumbled through the air to slam against the cave wall in a harsh impact.
The Grimm-Spider shrieked that unholy wail of its again, as it fell, flailing all of its arms and legs. It slammed into the ground with an earth shaking impact, its legs grotesquely waving about as it tried to right itself.
Another boulder
slammed into it, sending it tumbling from the hit. Isabel charged as the Spider Grimm struggled to get back onto its legs. She leaped forward, pulling back her fist.
"
YOU-!"
Her fist impacted two of the monster's legs-Both were bent from the force of the impact, and
snapped, but did their job to reduce Isabel's striking power. Her fist hit the side of the beast, and the Spider Grimm used the momentum to right itself. With a sneer on its human face, it produced two strands of silk from its spider mouth-parts and with it's human-like hands,
swung them like whips.
"UNGH! GAH!" Isabel held up her forearms, the whips
cracking as their tips easily broke the sound barrier, and Aura or no Aura, left harsh red welts all over the blonde woman. Qrow opened fire with Harbinger, blasting at the oozing stumps of the Spider Grimm's legs. It shrieked again, and Isabel charged in its distraction.
Her two mighty fists grabbed onto its fangs, and she tried to lift it as she fought with the monster like she was trying to wrangle a deer by its antlers. She snarled into the gaze of the monster, as it bent down its human head to try and bite her!
"
BITCH!" Isabel roared, headbutting the monster's human head back. Qrow had closed the distance, swinging his blade for its head again. The monster
bent backwards, and another hail of projectiles greeted both Hunters. Isabel was shielded from the worst of it, but Qrow again had to evade the fire in bird form. The Spider Grimm lunged, using its sheer bulk to drive Isabel back. She dug in her heels, but the Spider Grimm kept
pushing, and rammed her back into a truly massive stone pillar. The limestone cracked underneath the impact, and the Spider Grimm hissed in Isabel's face as it used its pedipalps to bludgeon her, smacking her around with the leg-like limbs.
"UGH! UNGH! NNGH!" Isabel gritted her teeth, tanking the hits. Qrow fired with Harbinger, targeting the monster's large abdomen. His shots did some damage, but the silken armor it wore was being replenished rapidly. His eyes scanned the monster for a weakness-The broken legs?
Shit. He could see that silk oozing over the ends already. The only thing that had penetrated this thing's hide was...
His eyes locked onto Nick's Sword, still sticking out of the monster's rear end.
"ISABEL! THE AMMO!"
Qrow leapt up, firing Harbinger in quick bursts at the monster's oozing stumps. The Spider Grimm reared back a little as it shrieked. It was still trying to pin Isabel, but as it fired a barrage of hairs at Qrow, it had let up just enough for Isabel to shove it back. With one hand free, she reached into her pouches, pulled out the ammo cylinder, and
threw it at Qrow. He shifted to human form and took a few hard hits, but he caught the magazine.
"HRWAH!" Isabel managed to deliver a few short punches into the spider-head eyes of the Spider Grimm, making it shriek. It lashed out with its human arms, reaching to grasp Isabel around her neck. It began to choke her, even as she tried to punch it...!
Qrow dove as a crow, and shifted to human form just as he passed the hilt of the sword. He grabbed onto it, swinging himself up onto the monster's abdomen. He untwisted the hilt, and it popped open-A fully spent magazine popped out. Qrow rammed the new magazine inside, slammed it in, twisted it shut, hit the trigger, channeled his Aura,
prayed that the Lightning Dust was still good and that his luck wouldn't fuck them over-!
CRACKLEBOOM! CRACKLEBOOM! CRACKLEBOOM! CRACKLEBOOM! CRACKLEBOOM! CRACLEBOOM! CRACKLEBOOM! CRACKLBOOM! CRACKLEBOOM! CRACLEBOOM!
A railgun sword was, in engineering terms, a very easy weapon to build with the technology available in an advanced kingdom of Remnant, like, say, Atlas. The real trick was in
wielding one, as it was akin to holding all the concentrated power of a thunderstorm in a relatively tiny metallic vessel. It took
immense Aura Reserves,
excellent Aura Control, and
monstrous physical strength to even use one effectively.
Qrow felt
why. Every
shot he fired was so
strong it felt like his arm might be ripped
right off by the sheer force of the blasts. The Spider Grimm bellowed in hate-filled agony as every blast outright
vaporized its insides.
Even then, it did not die easily. It lunged again, thrusting a fang into Isabel's side.
"ISABEL!" Qrow shouted.
"NNNGH... I'VE HAD... ENOUGH...!"
Isabel reached under the fangs, hooked them, and
lifted the spider up off the ground. Qrow yanked the huge railgun sword out of the Spider Grimm's abdomen and jumped down. He slammed it into the rocky floor, burying the pommel to point the blade straight up before he dodged out of the way.
"
OF YOU!"
Isabel
slammed the Spider Grimm down onto the sword, the weakened Grimm screaming as the blade punched right through its spider head and up through its human torso. Its human and spider mouths belched out Grimm ichor, as Isabel reared back with her fist. Its eyes were filled with hatred as it snarled one last time-
Before Isabel's fist
obliterated its head, turning it into smoke.
Isabel stood there, panting hard, as the mangled Spider Grimm shuddered once more, before its legs folded up around it. The body began to dissolve into smoke, the remains of the head vanishing first.
The beast's corpse slowly returned to the ether, leaving only Nick's sword. Isabel took two steps towards it... Before her knees gave out, and she stumbled. Qrow caught her, holding her tightly.
"You okay?" Qrow asked. Isabel managed a nod.
"Y-Yeah... You?"
"My Aura's dealing with it, you got injected with-!"
"I'm on it," Isabel groaned, "Hang on... Gotta deal with the venom..." She unclipped her armor, pulled it aside to bare her stomach...
Qrow started as Isabel's belly expanded against him. He stepped back as it distended, making her look like she was nine months pregnant with
quintuplets.
"What in the-?!"
"Have to expand the size of my liver," she explained, pressing a gauntlet to her stomach. It glowed white as the Medical Dust within it reacted to her Aura. "Filter it all out... And..."
She sighed in relief, and her stomach shrank back to regular size. She gave Qrow a small smile at his disgusted expression.
"All better!"
Qrow shook his head slowly.
Now I remember why she wears that stretchy turtleneck...
"Your Semblance is just..."
"You try having eight kids, then you'll see some
real body horror," Isabel managed. Qrow cracked a small smile.
They both turned to the sword, gleaming in the Dust flare. It stood proudly, a gigantic two-pronged sword as tall as a man, the split blade framing the deadly-looking railgun core. The edges were dark black, yet around the center of the blade and the firing chamber was white metal with gold highlights, signifying the family the weapon belonged to. Isabel sucked in a deep breath. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Qrow squeezed her shoulders with his arm.
"He came through for us... For you... One last time," Qrow said with a nod.
Isabel smiled softly.
"Nick..."
She and Qrow walked up to the sword. She picked it up and held it to her chest.
"Thank you," she murmured, tears in her eyes, "Thank you for... For everything..."
Qrow held her, not saying a word.
- - -
They didn't talk much after that. Isabel did scans and sweeps with her Scroll of the Grimm's lair and anything else the monster had kept from its many victims, per standard Hunter's procedure, and took some samples of whatever was left of the Grimm and its webbing. Qrow got Guivre up on its tires, and helped collect the samples and Nick's sword in the cargo compartments on the motorcycle.
They both worked hard to g et themselves and the bike up out of the grotto, Qrow steering while Isabel pushed.
The sun was setting by the time they got back out to the logging road, and night had fallen when they finally got back to the gates of Rotofield. The stars and broken moon illuminated their travel, and the guards at the front happily let them in.
Tired, dirty, exhausted, but triumphant, they got the cycle rolling on its never-run-flat tires. It took to the pavement far more easily, and everything became much smoother as they took the bike along road. There weren't many pedestrians or cars out this late, but they still got plenty of gawkers as they pushed the massive bike along towards the city center.
Qrow was guiding it towards a local mechanic's shop when Isabel paused.
"Wait," she said.
Qrow looked over at her. She was staring at the statue. Qrow smiled a bit. Quickly, and trying not to tie up traffic any more than they were, Qrow guided Guivre into the traffic circle, and up onto the concrete island where the statue was mounted. He nodded to Isabel. She let go of Guivre, and walked around to the front of the memorial. Qrow leaned back against Guivre's leather seat, and chuckled as he looked the memorial over.
"Guess you left a hell of an impression, Nick," Qrow said, "Or you were some kind of bastard for them to throw up a statue of you."
It was realistically proportioned, on a pedestal about two meters tall. Nick Arc was captured in marble with a confident smile on his bearded face, his massive sword stuck on his back. His right arm was bent back, holding the hilt of his giant blade, ready to pull it free and unleash it upon his enemies. He wore classic Arc Armor, perfectly sculpted in the pale white marble, with ribbed pants and heavy combat boots underneath. His hair was just as messy as it ever was. Qrow thought the artist had done a good job in capturing Nick's messy mane: The man tried and tried, but his beard and hair remained untamed despite his best efforts.
His gaze moved down to Isabel, who was staring up at the memorial of her husband. Qrow got up and walked around to her side. Her face was anxious and her eyes were avoiding her husband's gaze.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"Just..." Isabel shut her eyes and shook her head. "I feel... I feel so stupid. Blaming Hunting for getting Nick killed. After a while, any reminder of him just... Just ripped the wounds open again."
She rubbed her chest, right over her heart. Qrow slowly nodded.
"Yeah... I know the feeling," he murmured. "Seeing you... Seeing a lot of my old friends... The hurt just seemed to smother all the good times."
Isabel nodded, eyes locked onto the face of her husband's statue.
"... When I see Jaune," she said softly, "I'm going to apologize to him. I'll make up for every bad thing I ever did. I was wrapped up in my grief, but... But that's no excuse-"
"Yeah, but you're
trying," Qrow said emphatically, "That's what matters."
Isabel looked at him, her face neutral. Qrow sighed and rubbed his stubbly cheek as he tried to put his thoughts into some kind of intelligible statement.
"I mean... Working with you? Doing all this? I... I realize how much I've screwed things up in my life. My Semblance doesn't help. It makes things harder on me, on them... But that just means I can't give up." He looked into her eyes. "You make me want to get better, Isabel. To... To do better by the people in my life."
Isabel snorted, staring down at her feet.
"I'm not really much better-"
"But you're willing to try," Qrow argued back, and again her eyes found his, "And... So am I."
Isabel smiled warmly.
"Without you, I wouldn't have been willing to try," she said. She reached out her hand. Qrow glanced up at Nick for a moment, before he reached out and squeezed hers.
For such a powerful woman, her hand fit so neatly in his...
Sorry Nick, Qrow thought,
I swear, I'm not gonna make the moves on your wife. Really... At least not in front of your memorial-NO.
Isabel turned her gaze back to the statue. Her eyes lingered on the pedestal, and she sighed in irritation.
"They got the
name of his sword wrong," she grumbled, "They
always wrote it wrong."
Qrow smirked. He walked to Guivre, and popped the skirt cargo container. He pulled out Nick's massive sword, and rested it over his shoulder. He walked back, and took the blade's hilt in both hands.
"Let's fix that," he stated. With great dexterity and strength, he carved letters into the pedestal. Once he was done, he handed the sword back over to Isabel, who took it with shining eyes.
"'This Memorial is dedicated to Nickolas Louis Arc, a Hunter who fought to protect Rotofield many times throughout his career and gave his life to save a class of more than thirty junior Huntsmen. According to eye witnesses, he took down over fifty Grimm in single combat before being overcome. Rotofield will always remember Nicholas Louis Arc, wielder of the mighty railgun sword
Blont Joyeuse.'"
Qrow looked over at Isabel.
"What's that mean? He never said."
Isabel flushed, but she was smiling as she held the mighty blade.
"In an old Valean tongue, it means 'Yellow Joy'. He... Said he named it after our family."
Qrow smiled and hugged her around her shoulders again.
"He always was a corny son of a bitch, wasn't he?"
Isabel beamed, her eyes wet with tears but filled with love and pride.
"Yeah... Yeah, he was..."
Qrow squeezed her shoulder.
"You get back to the bullhead. I'll get Guivre to the shop."
"Thank you," Isabel said. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed Qrow's cheek. "For everything."
Qrow coughed and looked away, rubbing the back of his head.
"Y-Yeah... Any time."
She hurried off, ignoring questions from some tourists. Qrow watched her go, and with a smile, looked up at Nick's face.
"She's a hell of a woman, Nick," he said, "I can see why you feel so hard for her. I can see why she still loves you."
He was silent for a moment.
"I promise... I won't let anything happen to her. Or your family."
He shrugged.
"Just uh... Forgive my dirty thoughts, huh? Because I've got the feeling they're gonna get a
lot worse..."
- - -
Isabel's Bullhead is basically like an RV, with enough room and amenities for two people to travel together in relative comfort for a while.
Doctor Merlot is the antagonist of the game "RWBY: Grimm Eclipse", and he will make an appearance in this story. We do need more villains after all.
Rotofield is a reworking of "Rotomagus", the Gaulian name for Rouen, the French city where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.
Guivre is named after a mythical dragon of French legend, and is naturally based upon "Fenrir", Cloud Strife's motorcycle from "Final Fantasy: Advent Children". We will learn more about Nick Arc's sword next chapter.
And naturally the Grimm is based upon a Dryder, which I'm sure everyone knows from DnD and not porn.
Nick's sword is named Blont Joyuese, after the legendary sword wielded by Charlemagne, the Frankish Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Its name means "Yellow/Golden Joy" in Old French, and here you can see it bringing that to his wife.
(As did his other
sword, but we won't get into that.
)
Hope you enjoyed this tangent. Back to Teams RWBY and JNPR next time!
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