Chapter 9: Underground
You, Oobleck, and Ruby rounded the corner of a building, spotting a herd of Goliaths marching along through the woods. "Whaaaa..." Ruby said in awe. "What is that? It looks awesome!" You on the other hand, shivered at the memory of what happened last time you saw those things.
"That, my dear girl, is a Grimm." Oobleck told her. Ruby stared at the lumbering mass of monsters in amazement and awe before pulling out Crescent Rose in it's gun form. "Let's kill it."
"I'm afraid your sniper rifle will do nothing more than agitate a Grimm of that size." This put it into perspective how badly you'd been outclassed by Wulf the last time you had come here, if he could kill something that a normal Huntress' weapon would merely annoy.
"But... What if it attacks us?"
"Fret not, Ruby; those Goliaths are not concerned with us. Ruby, not every Grimm is mindless, or rather not every Grimm is still mindless. You see, the Grimm you see before you are so powerful, so superior to the Grimm you fought, that they've undoubtedly lived hundreds of years, and in that time between killing humans and attacking our borders, they have done one important thing: They've learned. They've learned that when they attack our borders, they're likely to die, and what we lack in strength, we make up for in will, and that killing one human will only bring more."
You watched now as one Goliath swiveled its thick neck to look at the figures watching the procession of Goliaths, eyes glowing as fiery red as any other Grimm.
"Then why are they still so close to the city? What are they doing?" You replied just as Oobleck did.
"Waiting." Now the Goliath turned its head forward again and moved on with its kin. Oobleck turned around and walked away as well, Ruby putting away her weapon, not moving.
"Doctor Oobleck?"
"Hmm?"
"I was wondering..."
You turned just in time to see Oobleck stop walking and turn back to you and Ruby. "Wondering why I've been interrogating your teammates all day?"
You looked to Ruby as she corrected him. "A-Actually, I was wondering... Why did you want to become a Huntsman?"
Oobleck didn't miss a beat. "Look around and tell me what you see." You and Ruby looked around.
"Lots of old buildings, uh, empty streets..." Ruby stated.
"I see lives that could have been saved." Oobleck continued walking with Ruby and you beside him and Zwei at your heels.
"As a Huntsman, it is my job to protect the people, and although I am capable of doing it with traditional weaponry, I believe I can make a much larger impact if I do it with my mind. As a teacher, I'm able to take knowledge, the most powerful weapon of them all, and place it in the hands of every student that passes through my classroom. I look at this wasteland, and I see lives that could have been saved, but I also see an opportunity; an opportunity to study these ruins and learn from this tragedy, and therefore become stronger." Oobleck now stopped for his final answer.
"I am a Huntsman, Ruby, because there is nothing else in this world I would rather be."
You watched as Oobleck Suddenly came rushing into the room team RWBY was set up in, you entering with Ruby. "Ah, wonderful; a textbook campfire!"
"Fire!" You watched as Ruby came in behind Oobleck and immediately sat next to the blaze alongside Zwei. "So... warm..." You smiled at the silly reaction Ruby had at the fire.
"Very good! Eat your dinners and hurry to bed. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow and we'll need you to take turns keeping watch over our temporary abode. Any volunteers for first watch?"
You watched as Ruby lifted an arm while still looking into the fire, simply answering, "Yo." Oobleck now rushed off, and Ruby got up to go over to her lookout point. Meanwhile you notived your team off in a corner, relaxing away from RWBY. Walking over you sat with them.
"Why are you guys away from the fire?" Kaen nodded over to RWBY.
"They made the fire, so we let them have it. Reiji's Sembalance makes him a human heater anyways, so we aren't going to be cold." You nodded, then noticed a missing member of the team.
"Where's Rogue?" Inshu pointed to a window, overlooking the ruins of Mountain Glenn, and the wilderness beyond.
"Pouting about something if I had to guess, based on how he's been acting today." He told you as you watched Rogue stare out the window.
"Inshu, do you think you can go talk to him about it? You two get along the best." You asked Inshu. He nodded, getting up and walking that way without a word.
Kaen and Reiji now looked away from Inshu and Rogue, back to you. "What did Oobleck talk to you and Ruby about?" Kaen asked as you sat down, grabbing the ration of food they had set to the side for you.
"He didn't ask anything. Just showed us the Goliaths, and then Ruby asked him why he was a Huntsman." You started to eat as Kaen and Reiji exchanged glances.
"Alright. Why did he want to be a Huntsman?" Kaen asked.
"He said it was to help learn from tragedies like here, make sure they don't happen by teaching his students about them." You kept eating, speaking between bites.
"Sounds like us. If only we actually bothered to try and help humanity." Kaen stated sullenly.
"We're here now. We can't change the past, we can only learn from it and act on it." You told him, looking to him. "Whether we lived the past or learned it, we can help. Don't think about the past. None of it's worth remembering." Kaen slowly looked down.
"I suppose you're right." He shrugged lightly. Reiji shifted slightly.
"This time Salem won't be able to trick us. We'll win, no matter what it takes." He grumbled. You and Kaen nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. The minute we can fight that fight, we're going to." You agreed, smiling at your brothers as they nodded. "For now lets get some sleep. No point staying up talking about it." You made yourself comfortable on the ground, closing your eyes.
"Grab your weapons! Your leader may be in trouble." You woke up, still a little groggy as both team RWBY and KRKI got up.
"Whats going on?" You asked Inshu, who was the first of you to be up entirely.
"Ruby's gone, but Zwei is here." He helped you up, using the end of his scythe to hook your axe by the blade and sling it at you so you could put it on your back.
Zwei lead everyone to a large hole in the road, Yang spotting Crescent Rose next to the hole.
"Ruby's scythe!" Everyone walked up to the hole, Oobleck somehow missing it.
"Do you think she fell?" Weiss asked.
"Fell?" Oobleck dashed up beside Weiss, looking up.
"Down there." Oobleck now looked down at the hole.
"Oh my. Of course! Of course, OF COURSE, OF COURSE!" Everyone exchanged concern glances.
"What is it?" Blake asked.
"How could I be so stupid?!" Oobleck cried
"Dr. Oobleck, what's wrong?" Yang asked now.
"Mountain Glenn! Yes, an expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by creatures of Grimm! Previously home to thousands of people! Working people commuting to the city, the main city! Developed a subway system to the inner city! Grimm attacks increased! Population in danger, now desperately searching for shelter! City evacuates into the metro tunnels and what do they find? The southeast quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves!"
Kaen stepped closer to him. "What does that mean for us?"
"My boy, we're not just looking for an underground crime network, we're looking for an UNDERGROUND crime network!"
"They've been working in caves?" Blake asked.
"No, no, Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt at expansion. It worked for a short period of time, thanks to an aggressive perimeter defense, and unique transportation; the city developed an elaborate subway system to carry citizens safely from the new territory into the main Kingdom! Sadly, without the many natural barriers Vale had to protect its borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start! As the end drew near, the citizens of the territory made one last attempt at survival: They took up shelter beneath the city! In massive caves that they had cleared out for the subway. And they had cut themselves off from the surface!" Oobleck raved.
"An underground village?" You finally asked.
"In a matter of speaking, yes. A safe haven. Until... an explosion opened the mouth of another cavern, filled with subterranean Grimm. After that, the Kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels, creating the world's largest tomb. If Ruby is down there," Oobleck deployed his mug, revealing it was his weapon. "We must find her..."
You looked to Rogue and Blake. "Rogue, Blake, can you two go ahead? Your probably our best scouts." Oobleck looked to you, nodding as you took charge.
"Sure." Rogue didnt hesitate, headed to the hole and leaping in. Blake however, paused.
"We should stick together. We don't know what's down there." You, for once, glared at her.
"Fine. Stay with the group if you want. Inshu, head down and go with Rogue. Your the only one of us who could keep up with him." You looked to Rogue in the hole, watching as he nodded up to you, before looking at the ground. As he looked for signs of where Ruby could have gone, Inshu jumped down beside him.
"Two sets of footprints, boots, most likely the White Fang. Scuffled here, most likely when they managed to subdue Ruby, had to guess I'd say a blow to the head. Tracks head that way." Rogue pointed to his left, starting to head that way as the last of team RWBY and KRKI landed on the roof.
"They headed down the rubble and stairs they could find, their headed for ground level." He continued to follow the trail, Inshu right on his heels as everyone else moved at a safe pace for them.
"After they hit the ground level here they headed straight for the tracks. Their using the subway system either for transport, or as a mobile base." He looked to the tracks, then looked back to Inshu
"I see movement along the tracks. White Fang." He got up, drawing his swords as Inshu drew his scythe.
"Go tell the others. I'll go ahead." Inshu ordered him. Rogue nodded, running back towards you. "They went towards the tracks, there's White Fang there. No doubt Ruby is in there."
You all looked to each other, then Yang as she charged that way. "Subtly be damned when we have a Xiao Long." Kaen told everyone.
"We should head after her." Rogue suggested, headed after her, everyone else agreeing as they ran after her.
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