章 748: 91
Chapter 91:
"Bye, Ruby-chan," said Natsuki, trying hard to keep from shedding too many tears as she hugged Ruby tightly. "Don't do anything too crazy."
"I make no such promises," said Ruby, hugging her best friend back.
After that, it was time to exchange hugs with Miyu and Setsuna, the latter being a little awkward, given the crush Ruby had once nursed. However, she managed with only a slight tint of red to her cheeks. Pulling away, she smiled happily at all her friends. "I'll bring back souvenirs," she promised.
"Are you sure it's okay to not take your other swords?" asked Natsuki, giving Akaibara a dubious look.
The sword was now tucked in her sash, resting at the small of her back, where her previous weapons once resided. Ruby had respectfully transferred her katanas to shiro-saya, the white, wooden storage sheaths meant for when the blades were not going to see use for a long time.
"Yeah," said Ruby. "It's kinda the only choice I've got at this point."
Just as it had been, during those first two weeks after getting Akaibara, Ruby had found the idea of keeping her old swords as backup something that her new sword would take offense to. One way or another, Ruby had to get along with her new partner. If she brought her other two swords along as well, then it was as good as saying she had no faith in the sword that was forged especially for her. Akaibara was often moody, sometimes unpredictable, somewhat like a cat. There were times when Ruby could wield her easily, and times where she didn't even want to leave her sheath.
Despite that, Ruby realized that the only way to truly bond with her sword was to place her trust and life in it. Therefore, even though it was risky, Akaibara was going to be her only weapon on this excursion.
"You'll get the hang of it," Setsuna assured her. "When you put your mind to it, there's pretty much nothing you can't do.
"Thanks," said Ruby, blushing some more.
"Ready to go, Ruby-chan?" asked Sasame, coming up behind her, a traveling haversack already slung over one shoulder. Kyo was waiting just a little bit farther behind.
"Uh huh," said Ruby, nodding eagerly.
"Then let's go," said Sasame. "We don't want to be late for our ride."
Ruby nodded. For the purpose of their journey, they would be taking a zeppelin from Onmyo to a settlement on the western coast of Leng. From there, they would take a ship across the sea, and then make their way through Mistral's territories on foot. Once they arrived in Anima, they planned on parting ways. Ruby and Sasame would travel north, around Lake Matsu, while Kyo would take the southern route. This would be the first training excursion Ruby would be taking apart from her brother. But she would have no hope of gaining experience against the Grimm, if he was around, given that his presence was perpetually frightening them off.
They made their way up the ramp, into the zeppelin's quarters inside its hull. It was the first time Ruby would have ever spent so much time inside one of the Mibu Clan's zeppelins, having only ever used them for short trips before.
Ruby had always been curious about the Mibu's equivalent to the airships that the Kingdoms used. Zeppelins were larger, slower, and less-maneuverable than the Dust-powered airships used by the Kingdoms. However, they still seemed to do their jobs admirably, carrying passengers and cargo across the width and breadth of Leng. At first glance, they seemed clumsy and vulnerable, enormous targets, far too easily attacked by airborne Grimm. However, Ruby had learned that they each had their own counters for such threats.
Zeppelins were primarily operated by those who had studied the Gravity Arts, derivatives of the same arts that were at the core of the Mumyo-Dai'On-Ryu that her friend, Setsuna, studied. The application of advanced Aura script allowed them to control every aspect of the airships' movement, while a member of the warrior class accompanied every airship, ensuring that it was protected from the Grimm.
Fortunately, with Kyo along for the ride, they wouldn't have to worry about any Grimm attacks on their trip. Instead, Ruby was free to sit back and enjoy the panoramic views that were available from the windows of the cabin she shared with Sasame. It was a marvelous experience. Granted, Ruby had never been on a Kingdom airship before, so she didn't have a real comparison to make. But she had to admit that there was something distinctly pleasant about this kind of journey.
They arrived on the other side of Leng without incident, docking at another seaside fishing village. Given that the Mibu had no commerce with the other Kingdoms, almost every settlement by the sea was either given to fishing or salt-production. There were also a few dedicated to the growing of nori and kombu, along with other seafoods. The Mibu had a strong aquaculture industry, with Ruby learning in school that they'd succeeded in the farming of several important fish species that served as foodstuffs throughout their territory.
Finding passage across the sea to Anima was a bit more difficult to arrange. Unlike in the Kingdoms; where passage to Leng was forbidden, and therefore had to be arranged through illicit means; any such arrangements in Leng could be conducted aboveboard. Technically, most Mibu were not permitted to leave Leng. But the Crimson Cross Knight, and those who traveled with him, were amongst the few granted that special freedom. However, the difficult part was finding a ship whose captain and crew were willing to bother. Unlike the smugglers who had brought Ruby and her siblings to Leng, there was little for anyone to gain by ferrying them over to Anima, given that few Mibu had any interest in the things the Kingdom might be able to provide them.
Still, Kyo and Sasame were ultimately able to make the arrangements. One of the larger fishing vessels, used to fish out in deeper waters, was capable of taking them across and, after the captain had been promised substantial compensation for their efforts, their journey was underway once again.
Much like the zeppelins that plied Leng's skies, their seagoing vessels were well-equipped to handle the threat of Grimm as well, though again, Kyo's presence made such concerns unnecessary. Ruby was just glad to know that there was little likelihood of any problems arising as the ship made its return voyage.
They had been dropped off on an unoccupied stretch of coastline, just a ways east of Mistral proper. This was where Ruby and Sasame parted ways from Kyo. From there, they would make their way over the land, Ruby learning from Sasame, passing through settlements, and generally doing whatever needed to be done. For the most part, that entailed walking...a lot of walking...well over twenty miles on a given day. But Ruby's training stood her in good stead, and she took to the journey without complaint.
Of course, without Kyo's presence, there were Grimm. For the most part, Sasame stood back and let Ruby handle herself. Ruby, for her part, took to fighting the Grimm with a gusto. This was what she had been training for, after all. It was fulfilling to mow down packs of Beowolves, or cut down Ursai. Her training had honed her skills and abilities to a remarkable extent, and Ruby found that, even while dealing with a sometimes uncooperative sword, she could still handle the Grimm with ease, though she found herself relishing the prospect of a real challenge.
"It looks like you're coming along nicely," said Sasame, watching as the last Ursa of the group that had just attacked collapsed, dissolving into smoke.
Ruby sheathed her sword and turned to face her sister. "I'm just glad it's working."
Of course, the issue with Akaibara being unwilling to be wielded by another sword was that Ruby was threatened with losing all the time and effort she'd spent on learning her two-sword style. However, she'd managed to hit on a solution. Rather than starting from scratch, and trying to reteach herself how to fight with a single sword, Ruby instead began to adapt many of her techniques from her previous styles.
By switching Akaibara from one hand to the other, she could recreate many of the techniques she'd used with a two-sword style, mainly those that involved attacking with her swords in succession. On top of that, she'd discovered new nuances that could be applied to her style. Switching hands with her sword allowed her to manipulate where she gripped it easily, enabling her to alter both the reach and power of her attacks, which proved to be an impressive way to catch adversaries off-guard. She'd even managed to surprise Shinrei with it, the first time Ruby used it against him in a sparring session. The enthusiastic praise he'd given her had made her heart soar at the time.
Of course, she had yet to see any of the transformational capability that Murasame had told her that the sword was capable of. Akaibara's form remained as static and unchanging as that of any sword Ruby had worked with. Even if it could transform, Ruby was left wondering how. It was all a single piece, even the handle being a permanent part of the sword's form. The sheath was a fine work in and of itself, made of metal, rather than wood and lacquer, reinforced by the Aura infused into it by Murasame. However, it was nothing more than a sheath, with Akaibara herself indicating her displeasure the one time Ruby had tried to wield the sheath as a secondary weapon.
Sasame came up behind Ruby, resting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You'll get the hang of it, I promise," she said. "Just as it is with meeting new people, you won't learn everything about your sword all at once. You'll have to get to know her, and learn her attributes over time. Of course, being a sword, the best way for you to do so will be to wield her."
"I understand," said Ruby.
"Good," said Sasame. "Now then, by my reckoning, we're not all that far from the next town. Let's continue on."
Ruby nodded.
Traveling without Kyo presented challenges beyond having to actually deal with the Grimm for a change. Kyo's presence was an event to be celebrated at settlements across the Kingdoms, promising a time free of Grimm, where people could let down their guard and be at ease. It was an opportunity for those charged with defending a settlement as well. They could repair defensive emplacements that the Grimm had been gradually worn down, or take the extra time to train or rest up. If there was internal discord drawing Grimm with negativity, then Kyo's arrival gave people a chance to work out their differences, with Kyo or Sasame sometimes serving as a mediator. Many was the embattled settlement that had been brought sudden relief when the Grimm abruptly fled at Kyo's approach.
As a result, it was not hard at all to find both food and lodging at a settlement, as the innkeepers practically fought for the privilege of hosting Kyo and his companions, and they were promised free food at any establishment therein. It certainly made visiting anyplace in the Kingdoms with him quite the unusual, if pleasant, experience.
On the other hand, with Sasame alone, they had a little less ease in securing food and lodgings in settlements they passed through. In fact, there had been some resistance to Sasame's presence, given that she was a faunus. The last town they'd been in had actually tried to run them out. However, Sasame had cowed their would-be attackers with a display of Aura, forcing them to back down, before she and Ruby left peacefully to simply make their way to the next settlement down the line.
Fortunately, Sasame had her own tools to barter with, namely her healing skills. Whenever they arrived at a settlement that would allow them in, however suspicious or frosty their welcome was, Sasame would immediately set to treating all the injured and sick present. Peoples' attitudes quickly changed when Sasame revealed her ability to make an injury that would normally take weeks to heal vanish within the space of a few seconds. Once she'd demonstrated that, it wasn't all that hard to find lodging after all, although, on multiple occasions, they found themselves bunking with the family of someone Sasame had healed, rather than being granted a free room at an inn. But a fairly comfortable bed and a home-cooked meal made by their host family wasn't all that bad a tradeoff, from Ruby's point of view.
Their stay in the settlement of Shiragiku proved to be uneventful. Sasame had an easy enough time finding them lodgings, as it had been a town that she and Kyo had visited before. Though the residents were disappointed that Kyo hadn't come with them, they were all too happy to accept Sasame's offer of treatment for their sick and injured. Without a festival to serve as a reason, their stay was determined by how long it took Sasame to see to her patients. Given her skill with the healing arts, it was rare for them to spend more than one day in a settlement.
By the next day, they were on their way towards their next destination. As they worked their way north, the air began to get even colder than it already was. It was approaching spring, by the time they reached the mountains, so snow wasn't an uncommon sight, and the days and nights were fairly cold. But, as they made their way into the more mountainous northern climes, the cold became especially bitter. It made for a difficult factor in their journey, and Ruby was forced to use her focus and mastery of her Aura as a means of staving off the chill. If she allowed it to make herself too sluggish, she could be caught off-guard by an attacking Grimm.
Their journey north would mainly skirt the edge of the inland sea that made up the center of Anima. As such, they wouldn't be heading to any of the northernmost settlements of Mistral, like Argus. However, their path did take them up into mountainous terrain, where they found themselves braving blizzards, and struggling to find footing on icy terrain. Well...Ruby did, at least. Sasame continued on, unbothered in the slightest by the cold, and finding footing in even the worst circumstances with an ease that left Ruby envious.
Eventually, over the course of their journey, they reached Hinagiku, a small settlement tucked inside a mountain pass. As settlements went, it was small and unimpressive. It didn't have any major products of its own, being situated neither for mining nor farming. However, its primary purpose was to serve as a checkpoint for east/west commerce through the mountains. It was a safe stopping point for caravans and ground-based transports that were forced to ply their way around the northern section of the continent.
The sight of the settlement was a welcome one to Ruby's eyes. She was fine with traveling through the wilderness, even during winter. But experiencing the harsh cold of northern Anima tried even her patience. Ruby didn't care if they wound up bedding down in some warehouse. She just wanted some kind of shelter, and a few hours of consistent warmth that didn't require remaining close to a fire.
However, their arrival in town didn't give Ruby a good feeling.
"I don't like this," she whispered to Sasame, taking in the sullen gazes and slumped postures of the people around them.
Their arrival in Hinagiku hadn't attracted so much as a second glance. That wasn't so odd, given that this town was created to host travelers. However, it wasn't so much a lack of novelty in their arrival as it was the fact that the residents seemed to be struggling to notice anything beyond whatever it was they were immediately doing.
"There is definitely something off here," said Sasame.
"Do you think it's Apathy?" Ruby asked, shuddering at the thought.
Ruby had never encountered the skeletal, humanoid Grimm herself. But she had been taught about them, namely their ability to drain the emotions out of their prey, until only that which they had been named for remained, their victims ultimately losing even the will to perform the basic tasks required to maintain their own lives.
"No," said Sasame. "The Apathy's power is carried through their presence, which we would have felt, had we come into their vicinity. No...there's a different factor responsible for people's behavior here, though I wouldn't rule out the involvement of Grimm of some kind. We can hopefully find out more."
Their first destination would be the hospital, or whatever the settlement's equivalent would be. There, Sasame conveyed her offer to heal any injured or sick. Her offer, naturally, was greeted with skepticism by the doctor in attendance...until Sasame began to demonstrate her skill. Her first patient was a local mountaineer, whose leg had been broken in a rockslide. It was the work of less than a minute for Sasame to fully heal the injury, then remove the man's cast.
Afterwards, she treated a woman suffering from pneumonia, and a couple of other patients. The local clinic was small, and it turned out that there weren't all that many injured in the settlement, though the ultimate reason for that proved to be rather depressing.
"There just hasn't been all that much going on," explained the doctor, treating the pair to a meal at the nearest restaurant. Ruby and Sasame couldn't help but notice the place was looking...empty. "Travelers haven't been coming through. No business means no income. Even places like this are starting to run short on supplies anyway."
"What's going on?" asked Ruby.
The doctor sighed. "We don't know," he admitted. "The last two caravans that passed through were heading west. But, the last time we got a scroll signal through to Ajisai-that's the settlement down the road from here, by the way-they said the group hadn't made it. We also heard that a few groups of travelers were coming up the other way, but they never showed."
"Which would suggest that something is happening on the road between here and Ajisai," said Sasame.
The doctor nodded. "The mayor thought it was Grimm, of course. She sent our local Huntress to investigate...and she flat out vanished." The doctor sighed, momentarily fidgeting with something in his hand.
Ruby glanced down, seeing a locket...and a ring around the man's finger. "Was the Huntress...?"
"My wife," answered the doctor sadly. "That was two weeks ago. We've tried contacting Mistral, wanted to see if we could get a full team, maybe even two, up here to clear out whatever's infesting the road beyond here. But the price to get that mission on the boards, well..."
"Even though it's a full threat to your town?" asked Sasame. "I thought there were emergency measures in place for that."
"There're supposed to be," growled the doctor. "But the Council doesn't consider our situation and 'emergency'. Haven't said why, even though letting this thing go on could strangle the life out of this place. But we have our suspicions."
"What?" asked Ruby.
"Airships," growled the doctor. "They've been seeing more use lately, makes it a hell of a lot easier to get goods, if they don't have to rely on roads. If airships let merchants get their stuff to other parts of Mistral, without having to take the risk of going through this place, they don't see any reason to help an old relic like this town keep going."
"Th-that's awful!" gasped Ruby.
The doctor shrugged. "People are talking about leaving already. Commerce through here has only been getting slower, even before whatever it was took up residence on the road to Ajisai. I think this town was about done for, either way."
"Are you going to leave?" asked Ruby.
The doctor stared down at his locket. "I'm too old to be thinking of pulling up stakes now. My wife was getting on in years as a Huntress, so she wasn't the one best suited for that kind of work anymore. She was even talking about retiring."
"I'm so sorry," whispered Ruby.
The doctor shrugged, giving Ruby a weak smile. "I knew the risks when I married her, that there was every chance that, someday, she'd go out on a mission...and not come back. 'Course, that doesn't really make it hurt any less. But I'll live. But I don't have reason to go elsewhere. Our children are grown, and following their own paths. We even split the difference. Both our kids are in Argus now. Our son's entering med-school, and our daughter's in Sanctum. They'll be able to manage just fine."
The doctor looked up at them. "Because of that, I can't exactly recommend that you keep heading on. Whatever's on the road ahead, it's swallowing people up, before they have a chance to get any call for help out. Something like that isn't something a couple of travelers like you should be trying to mess with. Better to go back and find another path."
"Sadly, the only paths around this...obstruction...are prohibitively longer," said Sasame. "And they lead even farther north, into more inhospitable terrain, where there are virtually no settlements at all." She smiled. "So we shall have to simply keep moving forward and, in the process, we'll take care of that problem for you."
"I'd say you're arrogant," said the doctor. "But that's what I thought before you healed all my patients like it was nothing." He sighed. "I can't say or do anything to stop you. But I won't hold out hope either."
They ended up staying the night in the doctor's home, located directly above his clinic. In the morning, they moved out, making their way along the road through the pass.
"Wha-what do you think is out here?" asked Ruby as she and Sasame threaded their way along the rocky switchback trail that made its way down the mountainside.
"Something unpleasant, I'm sure," said Sasame. "I'm not an expert on the Kingdoms' communication technology, but what I've learned suggests that travelers should be able to contact the authorities in Ajisai easily enough, if they came under attack. What that implies is that..."
"Whatever attacked them finished them off before they could even manage that," said Ruby. "So it's fast and strong."
"Most likely," agreed Sasame. "On top of that, it probably has the element of surprise in some fashion. Looking at this road, you wouldn't think that there are all that many places to hide. But the right kind of Grimm can hide in surprising places. If one of them launched an attack from concealment, there would be no time at all to send out a distress call."
"Do you know which one?" asked Ruby.
"Not for certain," said Sasame. "But, considering the mountainous terrain...and so far north..."
"You have one in mind?" asked Ruby.
"Yes, but it's not a pleasant notion," said Sasame.
They made their way along a road that was barely wide enough for small wagons to make it along. The trail doubled back on itself repeatedly in a zigzag pattern of switchbacks that allowed those traveling to make their way down the mountainside without needing to try and make their way straight down the steep slope. Even though they were necessary to make a particular trail a manageable grade, they were always regarded with annoyance by those who had to travel them, given that they greatly extended a distance that seemed much smaller on a map.
The terrain around them was harsh and rocky, jutting boulders, interspersed with slopes of scree, which almost looked like rivers of fragmented stone, leading downwards to the large pile covering the bottom of the mountain slope. Ruby imagined that much of the work maintaining this trail went into sweeping the rocky fragments clear, and that they sometimes covered entire sections of the pathway at times.
It was as they passed one of those scree slopes that it happened. Sasame had slowed down slightly, falling behind. Ruby had been about to ask what was keeping her, when she sensed the dark presence and terrifying malice. It had appeared all at once, seemingly out of nowhere, a sharp spike of murderous intent, reminding her of some of the better assassins that had come after her the past couple of years.
The soft click of a dislodged stone was the only other warning she received. Ruby was already turning to face the rocky slope, the source of that frightening malice, when it happened. The rocky surface of the mountainside abruptly parted from the rest of it, opening to the side like a curtain. However, Ruby had no time to take in that particular detail. Instead, her view was taken up by the sight of long, multi-jointed, hairy limbs reaching out for her with lightning speed. She caught the flash of white; bone claws, fangs mounted on extending mandibles; and a sextet of vicious, red eyes glaring at her.
Ruby screamed, her eyes going wide. Her mind went into a panic at the sight of the horrifying thing rushing down at her. Fortunately, her training knew what to do, even if her own mind was in disarray. Akaibara flashed out from its sheath, Ruby's body moving assuredly to sidestep the incoming attack, her own form blurring and her footsteps sending up a flurry of petals. Akaibara flashed across her vision in a red streak, cutting the lunging thing in two. Her attacker continued forward, the light of those evil eyes dimming as its body pitched forward, bouncing down the slope in two pieces, dislodging loose rock and causing a small landslide on its way down. Ruby's eyes moved to take in the spindly legs, curling in on themselves, as the Grimm's hair form dissolved before it could reach the bottom of the slope.
"As I feared," observed Sasame sadly.
Ruby gasped for breath, her heart hammering against her ribs, as though she'd flat-out sprinted a mile or more. Her arms and legs began to shake as the adrenaline of her near-death experience subsided. Unbidden, frightened tears streaked down her cheeks. "Wha-wha-what was that!?"
"An Ungol," said Sasame, her voice thick with distaste. Her expression softened and she moved to take Ruby's right hand in hers. "Are you all right, Ruby-chan?"
"I...I think so," said Ruby, taking more breaths. "Tha-that was scarier than anything I've ever seen."
"I can understand," said Sasame sadly. "Ungols are particularly unpleasant creatures."
Next to them, the curtain of loose rock abruptly collapsed downward and inward, black particles drifting out from between the stones as they fell down to reveal a dark hole, leading back into the mountain.
"Don't let your guard down," said Sasame. "Amongst other things, Ungols are hive-type Grimm."
"Hive-type?" Ruby frowned. She hadn't heard that particular classification.
"It's similar to pack-type Grimm, like Beowolves," said Sasame. "Ungols congregate in groups, forming a semi-permanent nest. They're fearsome enough on their own. But the hive strengthens communication and coordination between them. The rest of the hive is well aware that this one has died."
"Oh..." Ruby swallowed. "That's bad."
"Indeed," said Sasame. "But they've lost the advantage of surprise, now that we've exposed one of their burrows. We know what we're up against, and we have a way in to deal with them."
"Right," said Ruby, still feeling shaky.
Sasame sent a gentle pulse washing through her, calming Ruby's body.
"What just happened?" asked Ruby. "I mean, I know it just attacked me, but..."
"You've learned about trapdoor spiders in school, right Ruby-chan?" asked Sasame.
Ruby nodded slowly. She remembered them covering that kind of spider briefly in one of her science lessons. The spiders were famous as ambush predators; digging burrows, then fashioning "trapdoors" out of sticks, dirt, and their own silk. From within those burrows, they could surge out of their camouflaged cover, and snatch prey away in the blink of an eye.
"Ungols are basically enormous trapdoor spiders...that prey on people," said Sasame, staring down the burrow. "On top of that, unlike actual trapdoor spiders, they're communal, more like ants really. As you can see, despite their size, they don't lose any of their speed. They can snatch a person away before most even have time to scream."
Ruby nodded, her skin paling at the notion. The caravan travelers might not have even noticed that they were under attack at first. She could see them in her mind's eye, their path taking them across the mouth of one of these hidden burrows. The last person in line would be targeted, snatched away with nary a sound. Those still traveling would turn around and realize that somebody was suddenly missing. While they were distracted by the plight of their missing member, other Ungols would strike from hiding, picking their targets off, one by one. By the time anyone figured out that Grimm were behind it, it was probably already too late.
Sasame crouched down, picking up and turning over a loose stone. "They hold their doors together with Unlight. It's basically their equivalent to spider-silk. It has more persistence than most Grimm-secreted substances, but it dissolves along with them."
"So that's what happened to all those caravans," said Ruby sadly, looking down the slope, wondering just how many hidden burrows lined the trail.
Sasame nodded. "Clearing them out is going to be an unpleasant task." She gestured down the dark tunnel, leading inside the mountain face. "They don't propagate overly much. But if we don't deal with the queen, more will soon replace any that we kill."
"Right," said Ruby, swallowing nervously. "There's a queen...?"
"Yes," said Sasame. "That's the other aspect of hive-type Grimm. Their hive will always have a leader. Beowolves have their Alphas, Ursas have Majors. Ungols will have a queen, not merely one that leads them, but spawns more of their kind."
"So we'll have to kill that," said Ruby nervously.
"Then let's go ahead," said Sasame. "You take the lead, Ruby-chan."
Ruby nodded nervously, stepping up and making her way into the tunnel. Just a few steps in, and the darkness grew oppressive. The faint light streaming in through the tunnel mouth didn't reach far. Soon, she couldn't even see her hand in front of her face. Swallowing down frightened bile in her throat, Ruby used Extension to feel the way ahead. As she did, she also reduced her focus on her eyes, trying to pay more attention to her other senses, and figure out just what was up ahead.
Before long, she felt them, more strands of that "Unlight", as Sasame had termed it. She'd actually been brushing up against them as soon as she'd entered the tunnel, and they were transmitting tiny vibrations down the length of the burrow, like some kind of low-tech alarm system. And then, through her Extension...she felt more intense vibrations coming back up.
"They're coming," she said.
"They are," agreed Sasame. "Keep pressing forward."
Ruby continued forward. Soon, the source of the vibrations traveling up the webs came within the scope of her Extension. She could sense the skittering bodies, those hairy, spindly forms, which filled her with a sense of utter revulsion. The Creatures of Grimm were frightening in general, but these monstrosities were utterly horrifying. Ruby had never considered herself an arachnophobe before, even if she'd never particularly liked spiders, but she might be one by the time this fight was over.
She couldn't count them, there were so many, and they ranged from ones as large as the one that had first lunged at her to smaller forms, which she presumed to be juveniles. It seemed that the one that had attacked her first was as large as they got, a bit of knowledge that provided some bitter reassurance. They wouldn't be bigger, but they were already more than big enough for her tastes.
And then they arrived, flowing out in a tide of skittering, claw-tipped, legs and clicking mandibles. Ruby completely invested herself in her technique, refusing to put too much thought into what she was up against. It was actually a reassurance that it was now too dark for her to actually see what she was fighting, only able to catch the flashes of red eyes and white bone against a black backdrop. Akaibara flashed in streaks of red, briefly lighting up the darkness, but providing no real illumination.
Ruby let her training guide her, feeling out the shapes of the Grimm bodies with her Extension, and allowing that knowledge to guide her strikes to what she needed to cut, in order to kill the Grimm as efficiently as she could, bringing them down with one slash apiece, when she could. Angry screeches, focused and amplified by the tunnel, filled her ears. A fetid stench flooded her nostrils, almost like a mix of brimstone and rotting flesh. Her entire body had broken out in a sweat that had nothing to do with her exertion. This was terrifying, sickening, the very last place Ruby would ever want to be.
But she kept pushing forward, fighting her way through the swarm of spider-like Grimm, cutting them down before they could reach her. Occasionally, the bristly fur of a leg would brush against her in a near-miss. Those bristles were practically claws in their own right, biting at Ruby's protective Aura, threatening to injure her, even if she dodged those claws and fangs. That slight contact was enough to make her shudder, feeling sick to the pit of her stomach. She had the feeling that, if she stopped now, she might wind up throwing up on the floor.
But she kept going. These were the monsters she had trained herself to fight. They had preyed on far too many people already, and Ruby refused to allow them to take another life, not when she could do something about it. It was frightening and sickening work, but Ruby couldn't allow herself to stop. This was the very thing she had wanted to do her whole life, and she refused to back down now.
So she danced, weaving Akaibara in a complex pattern in front of her, cutting down anything and everything that came within her reach. All the while, she slowly made her way farther and farther down the tunnel. Ironically, the design of the Ungols' own lair was working against them, the tunnel serving as a natural chokepoint, keeping them from leveraging their numbers fully, so the continuous wave that came at her was never threatening to overwhelm her with sheer numbers. Likewise, their packed forms kept them from maneuvering effectively, instead driving them straight into her blade.
Then, gradually, their numbers began to taper off. The easing up of the pressure was reassuring to Ruby. However, it also brought with it new dangers. The fewer Ungols there were, the more room the ones that were left had to move. They were smaller too, making them even more maneuverable and harder to track. Ruby realized she couldn't let her guard down until every last one of them was gone.
Finally, the last of the skittering, scuttling Grimm perished before her blade, and Ruby allowed herself to stop, panting from fear and exertion, her stomach roiling. Sasame gently pressed a hand to her back, sending a warming pulse of Aura through Ruby, causing her condition to subside.
"Well done, Ruby-chan," said Sasame.
"I-is that all of them?" asked Ruby.
"Probably not," admitted Sasame, "though that probably is most of them. The queen will keep a few close to her for extra protection, even though it's formidable enough on its own. But there is no doubt that the vast majority of them were what came against you just now.
"Let's keep going. The queen will simply spawn more, if we allow it to keep living. Fortunately, Ungol hives are not terribly complicated. We can just keep following this tunnel back to the center, which is where the queen will be."
"R-right," said Ruby, shivering at the thought of what the queen of a hive of disgusting creatures like this must be like.
She took a breath and calmed herself as best she could, before setting off, following the contours of the wall with her Extension, alert against further attacks. Sasame had told her that she had killed most of them, but that didn't mean that there weren't more waiting down the way. In fact, Ruby was all but certain of it.
The walls of the tunnel were fairly smooth and continuous, with only the occasional crevice or crack marking points where the stone was broken by the natural formation of the mountains themselves. So it was immediately suspicious when Ruby's Extended Aura brushed against two small piles of broken stone, scree inside an artificially excavated tunnel. Reaching a little farther allowed her to feel the dark presences hidden behind them, though it had been difficult. It seemed that Ungols had their own variation of Suppression, able to hide their presence impressively well, even from Ruby's own enhanced senses.
But they weren't able to hide completely. So when Ruby strode past the concealed burrows, she wasn't caught off-guard by the Ungols that abruptly lunged out from behind their cover, cutting them down with ease. It was even easier than it had been the first time, considering she didn't have to see them with her eyes. Once the dead Ungols had dissolved, Ruby could easily sense just how shallow the burrows had been, just small compartments, excavated into the tunnel walls, barely large enough to hold their occupants.
"They must have just made these," said Ruby, brushing her fingers against the stone.
Sasame nodded. "It's a reminder that the Grimm are not mindless as they might first appear. Hive-types in particular can be coordinated to a dangerous degree by their queen."
Ruby swallowed again, and continued forward.
The tunnel they were in began to slope downwards, not too steeply, but enough to clue Ruby into the fact that they were descending. They came upon a few more impromptu burrows along the way. Not bothering to try and bait the hiding Ungols out of these, Ruby simply thrust her sword between chunks of stone, killing the Grimm before they could even think of attacking. All the while, they continued onwards and downwards. Ruby wondered just how far they would go.
Not too long, as it turned out. A few-dozen more meters along, and Ruby could sense the tunnel abruptly open out into a large cavern. Her senses brushed against more of those black, Unlight webs. They emerged near the ceiling of the chamber, which she thought made sense, as they'd entered through the first burrow they encountered, up near the top of the trail.
The chamber was enormous, Ruby thinking that it was about as large overall as the rarely-used throne room in the Mibu Clan's Royal Palace. It was roughly spherical in shape, though its walls were rough and uneven. Spreading out her Extension as far as she could go, Ruby could sense multiple other entrances around and below their point of arrival. Webs stretched out from them, running in towards the center of the room, where they converged together into a tangled mass that must have been a nest for the queen.
"Looks like this is it," said Ruby, quivering at the thought of facing the thing that resided in that nest.
"That's right," said Sasame. "Be careful, Ruby-chan. Ungols are bad enough on their own. But a Shelob is especially dangerous."
"Shelob..." Ruby whispered. Her attention went down to the webs forming its nest. "Is Unlight sticky?"
"By default, yes," said Sasame. "However, Aura repels it. So, as long as you maintain your Temper, it won't adhere to you. You've experienced this already, after all."
Ruby nodded, remembering the webs she'd brushed up against on the way down. At the time, she'd simply thought they were too thin to actually hinder her, not noticing whether they'd stuck or not.
Sasame continued. "You'll need to be careful of your clothes though, especially your haori. Temper can dissipate through loose clothing, especially given that you're using Extension as well. So don't lose focus."
"R-right," said Ruby nervously. She stepped to the edge of the tunnel, right where it dropped away into the cavern. She took a deep, slow breath, letting it out just as slowly. Her fingers tightened around Akaibara's handle. For some reason, she didn't feel any disapproval from her sword. Instead, her Aura was a reassuring thrum against Ruby's own. In fact, Ruby now realized that she hadn't had to struggle with her sword throughout this whole fight. The two of them had been working together seamlessly, even though she'd been frightened out of her wits.
Sasame gently rubbed Ruby's back, just between her shoulders. "Fearlessness is a subtype of foolishness, Ruby-chan. That you feel fear is only right. That you do not allow it to govern you is critical. I believe your sword recognizes that, and respects it. Keep pressing forward, just the way you are."
Ruby nodded, then took another deep breath. Then she stepped out into empty space.
Immediately, she began to fall. However, her fall only carried her so far, as she landed on one of the winding, woven stretches of Unlight that reached out from one of the lower tunnels. The webs flexed underneath her weight, before rebounding slightly, like the undulating surface of a long, narrow trampoline. Ruby took a few seconds to find her footing, before standing up slowly and carefully.
The vibrations of her landing had already been carried down the length of the webs, into the nest at the center. For a moment, nothing happened...then a series of vibrations came racing back from the center of the tangled mass. Ruby's mouth went dry as she felt a pair of long legs, still spindly, but much thicker than those of any of the Ungols she had faced so far had possessed, reached out, parting sections of the tangled mass of webs, pulling them far enough apart for a massive, bulbous body to wriggle forth, along with six more legs, which stretched out to find purchase on neighboring webs.
The Shelob was easily four times the size of the largest Ungols Ruby had faced so far, and they had been half again the size of a full-grown human. Its legs stretched out above and below, latching onto other webs, suspending its head and abdomen in the space between them. Its form was shockingly visible in the near pitch-blackness of the cavern. Ruby wasn't sure where the light could be coming from, but some of it gleamed off the monster's form, illuminating a white bone-plate exoskeleton, from which extended bristles of black hair, as stiff and sharp as the claws on lesser Ungols had been.
Four pairs of angry red eyes glared at Ruby, illuminating fangs large enough to punch completely through her torso, mounted on extending mandibles easily longer than her own arms. Even worse was the terrible malice that swept through her, the sense of pure hatred and hunger coming from the Ungol.
It was more hideous than her wildest imaginings. Ruby's entire body quaked at the sight of the grotesque thing now suspended in front of her. Part of her mind was screaming at her to run, to flee back up one of these tunnels as fast as her feet would carry her. it would be all right. This monster was too large to move through the tunnels its offspring had excavated. It couldn't catch her. She could escape, and make it down the mountain safely. Hadn't she already done enough?
No! Ruby fiercely forced down the fearful thoughts rising within her. She hadn't come down into this hive for her own sake. She'd come down her to make this monstrosity answer for all the lives it and its offspring had taken, all the innocent victims they'd claimed, and would continue to claim, if she left this one free to spawn new Ungols. Backing down wasn't an option here.
"No matter what," she said out loud, tightening her grasp on Akaibara, "I'm bringing you down."
Akaibara shivered in her grip, and Ruby's ears heard an echoing chime, a perfect tone, like a finger running along the edge of a crystal goblet. The sound filled her up, and Ruby felt her fear subsiding completely, coming under control. Warmth flowed up her arm from the hand that gripped her sword.
So that's how it is, she thought, a smile crossing her face. I think I understand you a little better now, Sweetheart.
A sharp pricking sensation came from the center of her left palm, as though Akaibara was admonishing her for thinking of her with such a cutesy nickname. It made Ruby want to giggle. Sorry, but if you're going to work with me, you're gonna have to deal with stuff like that. I don't mind you wanting me to have more spine. But that also means I'm not gonna change who I am for you.
The pricking sensation subsided, and approval flooded out from the sword.
This interplay took place in about a second. As the chiming noise released by Akaibara reached the Shelob, it twitched, then quivered. Then, with an outraged screech, it threw itself along the webs, bearing down on Ruby with the force of an onrushing train, fangs outstretched for her.
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