111

Chapter 111:

Aiwendil's central plaza was a relatively simple affair. As the name suggested, it was located almost smack-dab in the village's center. The town hall, the village's center of government, was situated on one side, while the rest was ringed with a variety of buildings, some of them shops, others residences. In the middle of the plaza, an arrangement of paving stones had been set into the ground, forming a circular stage of sorts, with more paving stones radiating out from it, like the spokes of a wheel, extending out into the village's streets.

It was relatively simple and unadorned, the kind of low-cost scenery a settlement of this level would boast. This plaza might be used for festivals or regular events, possibly bazaars. Its relatively unremarkable appearance would allow it to be decked out in whatever decor suited the occasion, while also enabling the village to keep the costs of maintaining it down. Some settlements could afford things like manicured lawns or beds of bright flowers. But they were generally larger and more affluent. The people of Aiwendil liked to keep things simple.

The ultimate crux of that was that everyone would have an unobstructed view of what Faolan was about to do, the black-cloaked Huntsman standing beside a young faunus, who was stuck in a kneeling position. From where she entered, Ruby could already see the boy's blackened eye, where he'd probably received a hit from the butt of Faolan's spear. He couldn't have been more than twelve, sporting a head of shaggy, black hair, which itself appeared to be his faunus-trait.

Faolan's narrowed eyes immediately focused on Ruby and her friends as they burst into the plaza. "Ah...if it isn't the bleeding hearts."

"Let him go!" said Ruby, skidding to a stop a short distance away.

Instead, Faolan's hand emerged from within his cloak to cuff the boy in the back of the head, sending him lurching forward to plant his hands on the stones to keep from being sent sprawling. "This disobedient runt was blatantly violating the curfew I ordered," declared Faolan. "That makes him guilty. Now, I will have the whole village on-hand to see me dispense justice."

"This isn't justice, and you know it!" Jaune shouted, his hand already reaching for his sword.

"Careful," said Faolan simply, his hand emerging from within his cloak again, this time to grab the poor boy by his hair, hefting him up. From within the cloak, Faolan's other hand emerged, this one clasping his weapon.

At first glance, it appeared to be a knife with a long, double-sided blade, possessing a chiseled tip at its end. The handle appeared to be the same length as the blade. Ruby's senses were able to pick out the hidden segments, which would extend out to make the knife into a full spear, the blade of which Faolan now rested against the boy's throat.

"I would hate to abort my demonstration prematurely, because you forced me to kill this animal ahead of schedule. Of course, seeing as he's going to die either way, it shouldn't matter to you, should it? So attack, force me to kill the boy now, so I won't be able to kill him later. Go ahead..."

There was no response to his words. Jaune's hand had closed around Crocea Mors' handle, but he'd made no attempt to draw it. Instead, he'd looked on with a stony expression. The others responses were the same, all of them ready to attack, but none of them willing to do so, as it would risk Faolan slitting the boy's throat, right then and there.

Even with his mouth covered by his mask, the crinkling at the corners of the Huntsman's eyes betrayed his smirk. "As I thought," he said dismissively. "You bleeding hearts are so obsessed with being on the side of 'right' that you won't take the obvious option. You'll stand back and wait, prolonging this mongrel's suffering, right up until I kill him when I said I would. It's amazing how kindness can be so cruel."

Ruby frowned, her eyes narrowing. She'd allowed her own cloak to enfold her body to hide her movements, and had been slowly inching Akaibara out of her sheath. She was carefully gauging distances, judging angles, and eyeing her approach. She had no intent of abandoning the boy to his fate. However, timing was everything. Carefully, she caught Jaune's eye with a sideways glance. His own face was questioning. But, upon seeing her determined look, he nodded slightly, and refocused his attention forwards.

Already, other residents of the village were funneling through the streets and into the plaza, forming into a crowd that was gradually surrounding Hargrave, as well as the two teams of Beacon Students. Several villagers appeared to appreciate the fact that, from their disposition against each other, the students were on the villagers' side. As such, quite a few of them formed up behind RYNB and RASP; some as a show of support for the people clearly trying to rein in the actions of a power-mad, racist Huntsman; others because they figured that it would be safest to hide behind the people best-equipped to defend them.

Faolan's head turned to take in the growing crowd, his contempt for them evident in his manner, though he never allowed his attention to wander fully away from Ruby and her friends.

"It seems like some of you know how to obey an order," he said, projecting his voice without seeming to be shouting. "That is good. Unlike this mongrel brat, most of the rest of you seem to know the value of obedience."

"I was getting medicine for my mom!" protested the boy. "She needed a refill, and she was out, and-!"

"Silence!" snapped Faolan, his collapsed spear flickering out to open a cut along the boy's cheek, prompting a the boy's mouth to snap shut with a pained whimper. "Don't think your lies can fool me. You deliberately disobeyed my orders, which makes you a White Fang sympathizer. I'll be doing the whole of Remnant a favor by ridding it of your life."

Ruby growled under her breath. Even though she had the best knowledge of the situation, and what to do about it, her restraint was still hanging by a thread. She couldn't stand letting this disgusting man go on berating and spouting out racist ideologies.

What she couldn't understand was Hargrave's endgame. Sure, he was making a show out of his plan to kill the poor boy. But he couldn't have possibly expected it to go in his favor afterwards. No doubt there were quite a few people here who would be cowed by the brutal display, and the knowledge that the power and skill of a fully-trained Huntsman was well beyond their own. However, many of them wouldn't be. And even if he were capable of handling all the people who came at him, he was still up against two teams of Beacon students, who wouldn't give him any quarter, once he removed the safety of his own shield. He was confident, overconfident even. But Ruby could tell that his assessment of his own skills wasn't so ridiculously high that he'd give himself odds against defeating eight students, even if they were all first-years.

Once again, Faolan's narrowed eyes surveyed the gathered villagers. "I will be perfectly honest. The sight of all of you disgusts me. You mangy, flea-ridden scum imagine yourselves to be equal to us humans. From the very beginning, you were clearly born to serve us, your blood and forms tainted, impure by virtue of the base animal parts melded to your bodies."

Angry rumblings came from the assembled crowd. Ruby couldn't blame them. Faolan's words were the worst of racist rhetoric, practically designed to fire up faunus anger and indignation. It was almost as though he wanted them to get angry...

Oh no! Her mind finally caught up with her reasoning, and she realized what Faolan was going for.

In front of her, he merely continued his rant. "You think that you won parity with us, through your filthy little revolution, even though we were so generous as to finally give you a land of your own. Yet your greedy, grasping ambitions would not be satisfied with even that momentous token of goodwill. When we sought to rid ourselves of the blight of crime caused by your presence in our Kingdoms, and ensure that you, and you alone, were saddled with dealing with the problems that arise from your own base nature; you rose against us, because you will never be happy, never rise above your greed.

"And worse still are your enablers, the humans who have chosen to live among you, and treat you as though you were equal; humans like these brats from Beacon, raised and trained to believe that faunus lives are equal to that of humans. The lot of you, so long as you allow these beasts to run amuck, are just as low and base as they are."

"That is why demonstrations like this are needed. So long as you animals continue to reach above your station, you are all supporters of the White Fang, and their disruptive activities. Now, I shall kill this welp, and show you what happens when you fools think better of yourselves. Afterwards, you will return promptly to your homes, and await your judgment. If you are obedient, then I will overlook your collective arrogance, and I will only kill those I deem active supporters of the White Fang."

"Oh that does it!" snapped Yang, slamming her gauntlets together. "You're going down, you jackass!"

Faolan's spear-blade immediately came to rest across the throat of the poor boy he'd been menacing earlier. "Are you sure you wish to jostle me so?" he asked teasingly.

Yang growled, baring angry teeth, but remaining where she was.

"See?" crowed Faolan. "Your sympathy for the faunus makes you weak. Here you stand, someone you've deemed an enemy right before your eyes, yet you're powerless to take action. This is what comes of consorting with such trash."

Ruby shifted a tiny bit, the motion hidden by her cloak. Faolan's attention was currently focused on Yang, and Ruby was on his periphery.

There wouldn't be a better moment than this. Faolan was distracted, however slightly, and he was within range of her advance and attack. Her memory of that time in Barrowdown flashed back to her. She remembered the child, the bandit holding a gun to her head, that one chance to do it right, with the child's life being the cost of her potential failure. This moment was much the same...yet different...

...Different, because Ruby knew, however quick she was, however hard she tried...there was no way she could succeed the way she had back then.

But that didn't prompt her to hesitate.

All Faolan perceived was a minuscule flicker in the corner of his vision. His head whipped in Ruby's direction, only to see her already within striking distance, red cloak flaring as Akaibara struck out.

Faolan's response was almost as fast. The shaft of his spear extended, going from a length equal to that of its blade, to more than twice that in a fraction of a second, fast enough for him to interpose it between himself and Ruby's attack. Akaibara clanged harshly off the spear's shaft, the force behind the swing, Ruby's momentum, and the Projection of her Aura all launched Faolan backwards...

...And, in doing so, sent the blade of his spear slipping across the neck of his hostage, easily severing the veins and arteries on the right side of the boy's neck. The poor boy collapsed forward, an arc of blood spraying through the air.

All around the plaza, people screamed.

Faolan's eyes were wide with surprise. But, again, the way they crinkled at the corners indicated that he was smiling beneath his mask-No!-leering at her triumphantly. "I knew that you didn't care half as much as you pretended to. Now the entire village shall see you for the hypocrite that you are. The poor boy...I intended to make his death quick, and relatively painless, with a decapitation. But you had to go ahead and change it to death-by-blood-loss instead. Now he'll watch as his life ebbs away with each beat of his traitor heart, knowing that the one he was looking to for protection doomed him instead."

Ruby ignored Faolan's taunt, instead positioning herself protectively between him and the boy. "Jaune!" she shouted.

"On it!" Jaune shouted behind her, already crouching down beside the boy, hand glowing white with the light of his Aura. He rested it against the boy's neck, stemming the bleeding, then carefully mending his severed blood vessels back together, his Aura combining with his unique ability to allow him to perform the critical, yet simple, operation in a matter of seconds.

Less than a minute later, Jaune was helping the boy with his feet, the boy's legs shaking from a combination of fear at his near death and from the blood-loss he had experienced. But he was worlds better than he would have been, had Ruby done nothing.

Faolan's leering smirk disappeared, his eyes widening even farther. This time, there was no crinkling at the corners to indicate triumph or amusement. Instead, there was a furious anger. "You..."

"There's more than one way to save someone," said Ruby firmly.

"YOOOOOOOUUUUUU...!" howled Faolan, stabbing out with his spear, the weapon's length increasing explosively to stretch across the distance between him and Ruby, the extending segments revealing rectangular windows along their lengths, revealing that each one had been equipped with Dust. The one closest to the head of the spear glowed an angry red, jets of flame emerging from the windows, angled backward to drive the spear-blade like a rocket-engine.

Ruby slashed Akaibara up in a fierce parry, knocking the thrust aside, so that the spear slashed through the air above her neck and shoulder. Immediately, she stepped in, flicking across the space between her and Faolan, aiming to take advantage of his weapon's length to strike from well within his range.

The segment closest to where his hands gripped the shaft flashed green, a circling barrier of wind appearing between the Huntsman and Ruby, exploding outwards, driving both of them back away from each other. Another slash from Ruby's sword effortlessly parted the wind impeding her, allowing her to continue forward, only to find that that minuscule delay had been enough for Faolan to retract his spear, bringing the blade back between him and Ruby.

This time, when he attacked again, the segment armed with wind-Dust was closest to the head, the spear's blade become a blur as it etched a circling, moon-like shape the blade's path almost impossible to follow with her eyes.

But Ruby wasn't relying just on her sight. Her other senses were tracking the blade's path, enabling her to sense the source of its abnormal movements. Faolan's leading left hand gripped a pipe that the spear's main shaft extended through, while using his right hand to propel the thrust, sliding the spear's shaft through the pipe, even as it extended. At the same time, he rotated his right arm, transferring that rotation through the shaft of the spear, using the pipe as a fulcrum to widen its movements, making the spear trace a rapid circle in the air, even as it advanced.

It was a beautifully refined technique, one that would be effective against people and Grimm alike. However, Ruby's meshed senses were more than able to track the spear's otherwise-bewildering trajectory as the blade came whistling towards her, a path of razor-edged wind flowing in its wake. She met the spear's blade with her own, Projecting her Aura through the attack to bounce the blade away, while also using the force of the blow to disperse the Dust-formed winds that would have cut into her otherwise.

During this brief exchange, people had begun to scatter. A pair of shadows passed over Ruby's head. Pyrrha descended first, leading with Semblance-enhanced shots from her rifle, the magnetically accelerated bullets packing nearly as much punch as gravity-Dust rounds. The segment that was now closest to where Faolan's hands gripped the spear's pipe and shaft flashed, while he retracted and spun the spear, a barrier of hard-light appearing between him and the incoming bullets.

But he hadn't been prepared for the force behind them, or his shield just wasn't that powerful to begin with. There was a a fraction of a second's delay, and then the shield shattered from Pyrrha's shots. That delay was just enough time for Faolan to skip backwards, so that the bullets shattered the stone where he'd been standing.

Weiss landed directly behind Pyrrha, just ahead of Ruby, driving the tip of Myrtenaster into the ground. A loud ringing sound filled the air, and Faolan was forced to dodge back again as a geyser of ice erupted right where he'd been standing. Grunting, he swung his extending spear, the segment nearest the head now showing the black and glowing purple of gravity-Dust, which enveloped the spear's head as it struck the frigid impediment, shattering it. It was a reflexive action, so his swing only sent a few fragments flying in their direction, rather weakly at that. Pyrrha easily deflected them with her shield, she and Weiss falling back to reinforce Ruby by flanking her on either side.

"And now you betray the mission too," growled Faolan.

"Just doing our job," said Ruby, injecting false cheer into her voice. "We're protecting the people of the Kingdom from a madman."

"And I've already recorded your lovely little diatribe," added Weiss contemptuously. "The authorities are certainly going to have trouble believing that you had probable cause to abuse your authority like this."

"If it ever reaches them," countered Faolan, somewhat contemptuously.

Ruby let her senses Extend outward to feel what was going on in the wider area. While her own teammates had come to her side, save for Jaune, who was escorting his patient to safety, Team RYNB had spread out along the perimeter of the plaza, not to flank Faolan, but instead to guide the villages inhabitants away from the conflict, though they would be in perfect position to surround Faolan, once they were done.

As places to fight went, the village's central plaza was about the best they could ask for. A large, wide-open space, with nothing but the paving stones to really be damaged by any battle that took place. The buildings that ringed the plaza could easily be evacuated to increase the space they could fight in without having to worry about bystanders. So long as they kept the fight here, they could carry it out with minimal damage to the settlement itself.

The problem was that, as far as fighting spaces went, this place was perfect for Faolan's purposes as well. After all, as a spear-user, a wide-open space was one where he had the best opportunity to bring his weapon's length and reach into play. There was absolutely nothing here to restrict his movements. Right now, the only real advantage Ruby and her friends had over him was numbers...though Ruby suspected that numbers weren't their only advantage, and it wasn't one she'd be able to rely on for long.

"You've lost your mind, if you think you're going to get away with this," Weiss declared imperiously. "Even if we're only students, there are still eight of us to one of you, and we're more than prepared to bring you down."

"Or so you think," said Faolan, malicious mirth dancing in his voice. "But I strongly suspect that there won't be eight of you for very long."

As if on cue, a the speakers around the settlement crackled, then an angry-sounding siren began to wail. Everyone looked up, their eyes going wide.

"Grimm!" gasped Pyrrha, recognizing the tone, one of the several particular sirens they'd been taught to recognize, back at Beacon. This particular tone signaled an imminent Grimm attack...and a a severe one at that.

"So...that was what you were doing with that performance," said Ruby, regarding Faolan with narrowed eyes.

Faolan's eyes had returned to their normal, narrowed state, the crinkling at their edges betraying a satisfied smile, beneath his mask. "This trick worked quite well for me, back in Mistral. Get the animals riled up enough, and they call their own doom to them. What better fate for them than to feed them to the monsters?"

And no one left to press charges, Ruby cynically added in her own head, realizing that this was apparently Faolan's preferred way of eliminating witnesses to his worse misdeeds.

"You're the real monster here," declared Weiss furiously.

"That's enough!" shouted Ruby, her voice carrying all the authority she could command as a team leader, making sure that Ren and the rest of RYNB heard it as well. "Change of plans," she declared. "Everyone else, take down the Grimm."

"But Ruby-!" Yang began to protested.

"Now!" shouted Ruby.

"Let's go!" said Ren, rushing past Faolan, heading down the street that would take him back towards the militia's headquarters, where they could get the best idea of the placement they would need to take down the incoming Grimm.

Yang and the others, including Weiss and Pyrrha, gave Ruby worried looks, but quickly conceded, heading after Ren, leaving Ruby to face Faolan by herself.

Jaune was still a bit hampered by helping his charge to safety, but only flashed one look back at Ruby, before continuing on his way. "Will she be okay?" the boy he was supporting asked.

Jaune flashed the boy a grin. "She'll be fine," he said. "She's beaten Adam Taurus twice, once in pitch-dark."

The boy's eyes widened. "Wow," he gasped softly.

Behind them, Ruby faced down the mad Huntsman. Bringing both her hands to Akaibara's handle, Ruby split her weapon, striking her usual stance, holding Bara in her left hand, extending slightly out in front of her, her right arm extending over her head, holding Ibara so that the blade extended down her back.

Faolan snarled wordlessly, spinning his spear dramatically, flaring his cloak to reveal a torso of chiseled muscle, stretching the fabric of a skintight, black shirt, its collar extending up to form the mask that covered the lower portion of his face.

"So...you think you can defeat me alone?" asked Faolan contemptuously. "You overestimate yourself. You've also doomed your friends. They will need to spread out to deal with the Grimm. Once I'm done with you, I will easily be able to track them down and deal with them...one at a time."

Ruby said nothing, keeping her expression composed. Whether it was against Vernal, Adam, Cinder, or this man; she was used to dealing with people who generally stood above her in terms of ability. Faolan was a fully-trained Huntsman, a graduate of Haven, with several years of missions under his belt. Ruby could also tell that he hadn't slacked off afterwards. He was probably every bit as dangerous as he had been upon graduation. Despite that, Ruby's confidence in her own skills and experience did not flag.

They stood stock still, near the center of the plaza. The air around them echoed with the distant roars of the Grimm, and the occasional scream or cry from a frightened villager. Ruby could only hope that her friends and the militia were keeping order, so that they were prepared to meet the threat. At this point, trust was her best weapon. Her job was clear. She had to deal with the opponent in front of her.

Faolan struck first. The unusual design of his weapon enabled him to make his opening thrust quite abrupt, the blurring of his thrusting arm, partially hidden by his cloak, being the only indicator of the impending attack, while the hand holding the pipe didn't move at all, making the blade of his spear seem to leap forward of its own volition. It didn't help that the shaft extended, even as it was thrust, exposing the Dust-armed segments, which had once again rearranged themselves. This time, fire-Dust was nearest to the head, followed by the green wind-Dust, then deep-blue water-Dust. All three segments produced streams of energy from their rectangular windows as they extended, spinning about the shaft like pinwheels.

This time, the fire-Dust didn't propel the spear's blade like a rocket. Instead, it mingled with the wind and water-Dust, all three Dusts mixing together in the air, their combined effect producing a shimmer that caused the spear's movement to ripple and distort, as it was already going through its arcing trajectory, thanks to the spinning of the shaft through the pipe, held in Faolan's leading hand. The result was that the the spear, and its blade, danced in bewildering, completely impossible ways before Ruby's eyes, seeming to stretch and bend more than its shaft should have been able to.

A mirage, thought Ruby, recognizing the effect of the trick. Using water-Dust to affect the humidity in the air, wind-Dust to affect its density, and fire-Dust to excite both, Faolan had created an effect that distorted the light, prompting the unnatural-looking bends and twists of his spear's motion.

Despite that, Ruby's other senses were more than capable of tracking the weapon, her two swords crossing to intercept the tip of the incoming spear. The impact jarred her arms, and Faolan retracted the spear before she could try and slide her blades down the shaft to attack inside his range. The Huntsman clearly had an excellent notion of both the strength and weakness of his weapon, unleashing a series of rapid thrusts, all of them enhanced by the fulcrum of the pipe, the spear's blade dancing in beautiful, yet confusing patterns in the air, even as the attacks were supplemented by an array of Dust-effects, which only served to make his assault all the more confusing.

At times, the blade would be lined with flames, which could explode outwards on impact. Other times, it produced waves of ice where it struck, threatening to freeze Ruby's feet in place, or lock her weapons together. At other times, it launched out like a rocket, with frightening speed and devastating power. Sometimes it produced whirlwinds, others a shifting mirage that made it bend and weave in nauseating fashion. All of Faolan's attacks were designed to keep Ruby at a distance, ensuring that she couldn't close in and strike him directly.

That was fine with her. She was capable of more than just swinging her swords. She could wield them in a manner that Faolan was in no way prepared to handle.

Abruptly, she darted off to the side, dancing in a wide circle around Faolan, turning her body to twist her cloak as she did so. Faolan swung his spear after her, the movement of the tip greatly exaggerated to enhance the speed of his pursuing attack. Ruby blocked the attack with her swords through her cloak. Despite her speed, there was no way she could get behind Faolan quickly enough, not before he could turn and bring his spear to bear on her again. However, that had not been her intention anyway.

Ruby left a cloud of drifting petals in her wake, which quickly congealed together, forming orbs of violet plasma, hanging in the air in a loose crescent around Faolan. He had been busy trying to track her, so he didn't quite notice until the crackle of the orbs' energy reached his ears. At that point, Ruby was already launching her attack.

"Hibana!"

The orbs of plasma converged on Faolan's position. Faolan's response was to retract his spear, before spinning it to plant the butt against the stone. The shaft abruptly extended upwards, and Faolan went with it, gripping the pipe, which slid up the length of the shaft under its own power, Ruby able to sense the gravity-Dust fueling the movement. The orbs passed through Faolan's position with an angry buzz, slamming into the ground and stone beyond, throwing up explosions of dust and debris.

Up above, Faolan retracted his spear again, using that to draw the butt off the ground, the whole thing seeming to shrink down into the pipe he gripped with his left hand. From above, he thrust forward, almost seeming to throw his spear through the pipe, rather than drive it with his right hand. The spear extended as the blade stabbed downwards, Ruby forced to dart back as it struck where she'd been standing with explosive force. Faolan followed his weapon down, the spear's shaft collapsing into itself as he went. He landed, finding himself amidst a cloud of Ruby's petals.

This time, he was more wary of Ruby's ability. Unhooking the clasp of his cloak, he instead attached it around the shaft of his spear, right at the base of the blade, before extending and rotating it as he spun the weapon around him. The cloak flared out, creating powerful winds that dispersed the petals, even as Ruby unleashed her next attack.

"Hanabi!"

The petals exploded into arcs of lightning, filling the air with the sound of several strings of firecrackers being set off at once. However, none of those arcs touched Faolan, deflected off the fabric of his spinning cloak. The attack diverted, the Huntsman retracted his spear, snatching the cloak off it again, before swirling it around to drape over his shoulders once again, clasping it in a single motion. It was more than a little impressive that he'd been able to thwart that attack without relying on his wind-Dust, which the arrangement of segments on his spear had apparently prevented him from using in a defensive manner this time. The practiced manner in which he'd accomplished it apparent that it was a skill he'd deliberately developed for such situations and, with almost no fanfare, he was ready to continue the fight...

...Which made it all the more troubling that Ruby had not chosen to press the attack.

Instead, she'd retreated away, out of the full reach of his spear. She'd brought her swords back together, now holding Akaibara in both hands, its tip pointed skywards. A low rumble filled the air, and the plaza was abruptly overshadowed. Faolan's eyes rolled upwards, and he found himself staring into a maelstrom of black clouds, boiling angrily, a fierce storm having rolled in out of nowhere. "What-?"

The clouds above swirled, a circular eye forming within them, a shaft of light extending down to illuminate Ruby, who now stood firmly in the storm's eye. Angry flashes crackled as lightning jumped back and forth between the clouds lining that tiny circle of calm, before converging together in its center, then lashing downwards with a mighty bolt, which struck the tip of Ruby's sword with a deafening crash, and a flash of light that forced Faolan to shield his eyes with his arm, lest he be struck blind.

Is she trying to kill herself? he wondered. He had no idea of the mechanism behind such a spectacular feat, but there was no denying that Ruby had been the one behind it...somehow. But he couldn't imagine how calling down a stroke of lightning on her own head was going to do anything but blast her to pieces.

Then the light faded, and Faolan's eyes snapped wide open, betraying the sheer disbelief he felt. Ruby stood, untouched, her sword raised overhead. The lightning that should have blasted her where she stood instead danced up and down the length of the blade, wreathing it in powerful arcs of white, edged with blue.

"Raikoken."

Ruby smiled triumphantly. While she hadn't been able to practice the actual technique too often, not wanting to cause another newsworthy spectacle by repeatedly calling down lightning strikes on her location, she had continued to immerse herself in the sensation of calling upon the World's Aura. Refining that skill, she had become better able to call down the lightning. With further practice, she might not even need to summon a storm at all, simply able to draw the power forth from Remnant's own electromagnetic field. On top of that, her continued immersion in her sense of the World's Aura had enabled her to get an even better feel for controlling it.

In some ways, it was even easier to control than the lightning born of her own Aura. Oh sure, it was overflowing with power, wild with natural energy. However, it was also more solid, more real than the power of her soul, which made it more malleable and shapeable to her will in some ways. Even now, in the midst of this fight, Ruby was already beginning to grasp potential ways she could put this new realization to use.

"What the hell is this!?" demanded Faolan, letting go of his spear with one hand to pull down his mask, exposing his scarred mouth, which hung open to gape unashamedly at the spectacle before him.

"You don't need to know," replied Ruby coldly.

Faolan glared furiously, baring his teeth, the ragged scars stretching out from the corners of his mouth making the expression all the more menacing. With an angry scream, he took up his spear again, lunging forward with a thrust, wind and flame spiraling around the shaft to converge at the head.

Ruby split Akaibara again, the lightning dancing between the two blades, arcing up, around, and over her shoulders, forming a crackling rainbow of electricity that danced above and behind her head, linking the two swords together. Turning her body, she met the lightning-fast thrust with an equally swift slash, her weapon clashing against the enraged Huntsman's with a thunderous crash.

It had taken a few minutes to sort things out at the militia's headquarters. Thankfully, the people of the village were quick to return to their homes and get under cover, responding with impressive speed, and a startling lack of panic in their actions. That was certainly a relief, as it allowed RYNB and RASP (except for Ruby) to quickly get down to the business of assessing the Grimm attack, and determining where their help was needed.

Fortunately, the Grimm were largely coming from one direction; the natural topography, formed by some surrounding hills, funneling them into a large mass. There were others converging in from other directions, but not enough that the settlement would be completely overwhelmed by a simultaneous attack from all directions. However, that would not remain the case, if they allowed the main force of Grimm to break up at the wall, and then spread out to surround the settlement.

Even more fortunately, despite their worse fears, Aiwendil was not being approached by a gargantuan host of Grimm. It was a good-sized horde, for sure, one that would have been too much for the village's militia on its own. But the seven students with them were more than capable of handling this number. Of course, the important thing was getting the mood of the residents under control, so that this attack wasn't simply followed by another, drawn by the negativity that this one stirred up, not to mention the presence of a racist Huntsman actively stirring up negative feelings in order to draw in the Grimm in the first place.

"Let's concentrate our heavy hitters in the center," said Ren. "Jaune, you'll take the front."

Jaune nodded.

"Yang and Nora will support you." The two girls nodded in response to his instructions. "Weiss, Pyrrha, Blake, and I will support the rest of the perimeter wall as needed. We'll head off anything that the militia soldiers can't handle on their own, and generally keep the pressure off the the flanks and rear."

"Got it," said Weiss, nodding along with Pyrrha and Blake.

"Be careful of flyers," instructed Ren. "Don't let any of them past the wall."

"You got it," said Nora, grinning and saluting playfully.

"Now this is an enemy I can get behind giving a good pounding," said Yang, smacking her gauntlets together.

"We'll do our best not to get in your way," said the militia's commander, knowing it was best to leave it up to the students. Even though they were still in Beacon, they were Huntsmen and Huntresses, and would know best how to deal with such a large Grimm incursion.

"For the most part, try and focus on bringing down any flyers that you see," advised Jaune. "You can pick off any that try to slip past us on the ground, but the flyers are going to be the big threat."

"Understood," said the commander. "We might not have permanent emplacements, but we do have some decent anti-air measures."

"Let's move," said Ren decisively.

They quickly rushed to see to their particular duties. Jaune, Nora, and Yang went out through the main gate, in the face of the largest concentration of approaching Grimm. Already, the militia members were on the wall, their rifles firing, sending bolts of red, blue, and yellow energy lancing out through the air. Several lashed into the oncoming horde, hampering some of the Grimm, bringing others down and tripping up their companions. But the majority were aimed upwards, concentrating on screeching, mid-sized Nevermores and Griffons. Fortunately, there were no flying giants the size of the one that RASP had fought during their first training excursion in the Emerald Forest. But these ones were large enough, more than capable of dealing plenty of damage on their own, not helped by the fact that there were quite a few of them.

The Grimm charging forward along the ground were a mixed bag, the bulk of them made up of loping Beowolves and hopping Creeps. Her and there, Jaune could spot the heavyset shoulders of an Ursa, and the occasional arched back of a Boarbatusk. However, there was no sign of any Majors or Alphas, much less anything like the Duba that had attacked them in Forever Fall. Their numbers were worrying enough though.

The sky above darkened...not from some terrifying swarm of airborne Grimm, but from dark clouds that boiled up out of nowhere. Jaune's gaze went up, his eyes widening.

"That's Ruby, right?" asked Yang.

"Yep," said Jaune, a grin forming on his face.

Behind them, a mighty bolt of lightning struck down in Aiwendil's center with an echoing crash.

Nora grinned. "Sounds like the Grimm are the ones getting off easy," she said, twirling Magnhild eagerly.

Jaune couldn't help but chuckle in agreement.

The onrushing Grimm broke over them, like waves over a beach. Jaune stepped forward, calling upon the power sleeping within his sword and shield. The large Beowolf leading the charge slammed headfirst into the impediment, and was immediately blasted backwards, its skull crushed by the force of its own charge breaking against Jaune's shield. Its body began to dissolve, but not until after its backwards tumble sent the Grimm behind it scattering like tenpins.

Nora and Yang were quick to take advantage, surging forward, lashing out with hammer and gauntlets, blasting Grimm away with swift motions, taking them down with savage, brutal efficiency. Jaune himself contributed, stepping forward past his shield, bringing his sword down in an overhead strike, the blade flashing white, and sending a crescent of pure energy slicing through the ranks of the Grimm, splitting through several of them in succession, before finally petering out.

"Nice job," complimented Yang, even as she disposed of a lunging Ursa with an uppercut to the jaw that sent a blast of fire upwards that obliterated its entire head. On his other side, Nora cackled as she brought her hammer down on the spine of a lunging Creep, smashing the Grim straight into the ground.

Jaune could only grin, not finding the time or energy to banter as more Grimm quickly stepped in to fill the gaps left by the ones he'd killed. His body began moving automatically, recalling the simple, unimpressive, but effective techniques that Pyrrha, Ruby, and his other friends had drilled into him relentlessly. He used his shield to deflect slashing claws or snapping jaws, before unleashing one or more slashes to cut down whichever Grimm he'd just warded off, lather, rinse, and repeat. To his surprise, he found himself mowing them down with startling efficiency, his sword cutting through bone-plate with little effort. His use of his weapon's Aura had been refined to the point where he could use it with relatively little exertion on his part, enhancing his slashes to just the degree he needed.

It was a wonderfully validating experience. Even if he wasn't bringing them down with the speed and ease that the two girls to either side of him were capable of, Jaune was still doing his part. He was fighting the battle of a true Huntsman, and holding his own, all the hard work and training from before paying off magnificently. If only Dad could see me now.

Weiss found herself more than a little grateful for Ren's foresight. It seemed that, while the younger and more reckless Grimm had congregated together to rush the walls en-masse, the older, more experienced ones were demonstrating that uncanny intelligence that had allowed them to live so long, trying to take advantage of the distraction created by the massed attack from one side to strike from the flanks, which they had assumed to be unguarded.

Ren had asked the militia commander to disperse his troops as evenly as he could. It was mainly a precaution against flyers, but one that worked just as well against the Alphas, Majors, and even Elder Creeps that were now attacking from nearly every direction. There weren't many of them, but they each took far more effort to bring down that any five of their younger brethren, being both stronger and smarter.

Before Weiss' eyes, a massive Ursa Major; one half again as large as the one that she'd fought in Forever Fall, the one that Yang had saved her from; rose up, brandishing its paws. It lunged forward, swinging one of its limbs in a mighty sweep, its massive, saber-like claws threatening to disembowel her with a single blow.

Weiss' response was to create a Glyph beneath her feet, gliding forward, well inside the arc of the Ursa's swing, where its claws couldn't reach her. She lead with a flurry of thrusts, punching her sword through the bristling hairs and between the bone-plates that guarded its chest. The Ursa jolted, tightening the arc of its swing, bringing its paw around to try and catch her from behind, possibly to hug and crush her against its chest, even as it lunged down with its jaws to bite off her head.

Another Glyph appeared beneath Weiss' feet, launching her up and back. She leaned into the movement, allowing her to slip between the Ursa's paw and its closing jaws, barely managing to squeeze through the gap. Her launch carried her into a backflip that allowed her to touch down just a couple meters away. Stabbing Myrtenaster into the earth, a ringing sound accompanied an eruption of icy spikes that punched completely through the Ursa's torso. Off-balance from its attempts to catch her, the Grimm had been in no position to avoid or counter. It quickly slumped down, and began to dissolve.

Before it was finished though, an Alpha Beowolf leapt on the dead Ursa's shoulders, using the Ursa itself as a platform to launch itself upwards, descending on Weiss from above.

Weiss stared up, caught off-guard by the sudden appearance of the Alpha. Myrtenaster was still anchored in the ground, and she wasn't going to be able to bring it up in time to intercept the descending Beowolf. It would land atop her, drive her to the ground, then maul her with its fangs and claws until it broke her Aura. Weiss could have tried to deflect its descent with a Glyph, but it was already so close that its mass and momentum would tear through the strongest Glyph she could put up with so little warning.

Instead, Weiss' mind went to one thing, and her Aura began to respond automatically, the Suppression transferring into Projection so quickly that her Aura barely even flickered off. The sword-wheel of her Summoning Glyph appeared in the air over her head. There wasn't time to Summon her full Arma Gigas, but Weiss realized she didn't need to Summon the whole thing...just the business-end.

The blade of a massive sword extended out, followed by an arm encased in plates of curving armor, the arm sweeping the sword around in a wide slash that cut the Alpha in two. A second later, Weiss rose up as the two halves of the bisected Beowolf fell to either side of her. Her mind was reeling at the implications of this.

Why didn't I think of this sooner? she wondered. It was brilliant. A lot of the time, the time and effort that went into Summoning her full Arma Gigas made it seriously impractical in a real battle, and she'd only managed to make use of it on a couple of occasions. But she didn't really need to Summon the whole thing every time, did she? Calling forth the sword, and the arm that swung it, required a fraction of the time and effort, and was more than enough to suit her needs, most of the time, especially if she only needed it for a single attack.

I need to look into this more, when this mission is over, thought Weiss.

Of course, that meant that they needed to get through this mission first. The Grimm aside, there was still the matter of an insane Huntsman threatening to kill every faunus in the village.

Looking up, Weiss saw dark clouds boil up out of nowhere, before a bolt of lightning struck, right in Aiwendil's central plaza.

She didn't think she needed to worry about Faolan anymore.