Capítulo 485: 41
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The moment the Bullhead touched down, the doors slid open on the thick, dark forest. Ruby stepped out first, her team and JNPR both at her back and all with weapons raised. They looked around themselves nervously, the thick trees choking out almost all the light and leaving the area grim and dark, hard to see in. Around them, the sounds of engines and cracking trees echoed mutedly, the same trees as those being felled stopping the sounds from spreading. The great treas rose high overhead, thick flat canopies hundreds of feet into the air with scarce beams of the midday light breaking through, speckling across trunks large enough to fit five men inside if they were hollowed out. Lights on the machines burned into a bright existence, scorching tracks across the forest around them. Small ball-like drones floated out of the Bullheads,
Flinching, Weiss muttered, "It's... so dark. Even with our lights, I can scarcely see a handful of feet in any direction."
"Yes, the forests around Mountain Glenn are very dark indeed. On this side especially, the Goliaths tend to avoid it, Atlesian ships will destroy any in their patrolling ranges." Ozpin agreed, stepping past them with Qrow hovering by his side protectively, scythe resting on his shoulders as narrow eyes combed the woods. In the distance, several shots rang out where the other craft had to be landing, and he nodded as though taking a cue from the distant sounds of conflict, "Grimm are already starting to head towards us it seems. We've no time to chat then, we must get moving before our particular opponent wises up and sends her personal forces towards us."
They started making their way through the woods as quickly as they dared in the murk, occasionally hearing the sound of a rifle barking in the distance or a long, staccato burst of it being fired more desperately. A small Beowolf rushed from behind one of the great trees in their path, and Qrow bisected it without a thought, "Stick close together, kids, gotta keep an eye on each other in here. And the damn Grimm, 'course they can hide pretty much anywhere."
"And of course we can't spread out, so we're just perfect for an ambush." Ren complained lightly, Ruby whimpering at the premise. He gave her an apologetic smile, more a grimace with pinched eyebrows and a shrug, and sighed, "Sorry, Ruby."
They traveled like that for a while, quietly marching through the dark forests, listening to the dull and muted rounds, snarls and the crunch of their own feet. After a few minutes, the hill began to grow steeper, and the firing steadier and more common.
"Qrow, something is wrong." Ozpin observed, the other man nodding in response while the students following and Winter watched them nervously, or warily in the latter's case. "Qrow, Winter, I want you to scout ahead and-" He trailed off as the ground began to tremble, flicking his cane out to the side and peering ahead with narrowed eyes. "We're about to be under attack, prepare yourselves."
A deafening roar sounded as figure broke out into their sight lines, the drones' lights shining down from high above on them. The first of the Grimm stood almost a hundred feet tall and as thick as any of the trees around them. It roared and its massive jaws revealed two rows of razor sharp teeth that glinted in the darkness, beady red eyes glaring out from behind the heavy armor on its face and head, spines bristling along its back and long, muscular arms flexing as they spread threateningly. It slammed one of its legs into the ground and the group stumbled as the ground shook, and it rose to its full height, at least a century and a half tall and equal that from snout to its thick, muscled and armored tail's tip. White plates covered its legs, arms and sides, spines sprouting between them on its back about four feet tall and three inches thick, covering it entirely in armor aside from its stomach and chest between its arms.
"Espintillia…" Qrow muttered, swallowing nervously. It watched them for several long seconds, standing about twenty feet away. The Huntsmen turned to Ozpin partially, "That psychotic bitch sent Espintillia into the damn forest."
It lunged in, massive jaw snapping at Qrow who leapt away, and the others scattered around it, beating its flanks with fire that did nothing. Qrow landed behind it, spinning his scythe and running under its tail, slashing at its unarmored flesh where thigh met hip. It spun, and he had to roll to the side to avoid the massive, clawed foot that slammed where he'd been heading. Ozpin launched himself at it next, stabbing rapidly at the creature with his cane as he crested his leap high over its head and pink grenades exploded along its left side. The beast snarled, flinching at each blow and staggering slightly back, but as Ozpin descended it lashed out, grabbing him in its right claw and raising him high before slamming him into the ground, pinning him there with a massive leg and roaring, long and loud and aiming to intimidate anyone in earshot as well as deafen them, deafening them and shaking the Espintillia turned its head towards the man pinned underneath, leaning down menacingly and licking its chops, almost mocking the fighters around it when Yang shot forward and slammed a fist into the leg holding him without any effect at all.
Snarling angrily at that, Pyrrha slammed her spear into the ground and held her hands high over her head, eyes drifting towards Winter before closing in concentration after a curt nod from the Specialist. The leaves high above began to shift and shake, some falling free. As the wind picked up and approached a gale, small limbs fell, smashing on the barren ground beneath and on the Grimm. A particularly large one smashed into its head and it growled, looking at her for a moment.
"Come on the, you useless lizard." She goaded mockingly, smiling widely and almost manically at it with her head lolling to the side and eyes open to show bright green, energized and smoldering eyes. "Come and try me!"
As though sensing the danger, it charged, the ground under it trembling as it did. With twin yells of fury and effort, the Schnee and the Maiden threw their hand at the beast, a Glyph spinning up and propelling huge shards of ice as Pyrrha summoned them, each the size of a car itself, at the beast. It stumbled, sinking to the ground and struggling to get up under the weight of the ice as it buried itself in the soft flesh of its underbelly, and the Espintillia lowered its head to block the projectiles.
Raising one hand over her head and forcing the ice to continue as the creature slowly, laboriously closed the distance, her smile grew thin and satisfied as fire burst into being around her eyes.
Dropping her hands, the ice barrage died and Winter blinked in surprise, "What-"
Pyrrha yanked her blade free of the dirt, leaping at the beast's head. It snapped at her, and she used a blast of air to turn herself, practically flying around it and landing at the base of its neck. It roared defiantly, spinning and bristling its spines in an effort to stab her to toss her asie, but she let her shield fly from her gri and skitter down its back and into the dirt and held herself there with one of its massive spines. Raising her sword, thunder cracked overhead, and she slammed the hilt into its head, releasing the weapon as four bolts of lightning cracked through the trees overhead, spilling light from an overcast sky into the forest as the leaves began smoldering and large limbs as thick as the Grimm spilled down, splintering against the ground and the trees they had once been part of.
The lighting met the blade of her sword, arcing through it harmlessly with her will and into the Grimm, the massive monster's roar of pain dying in a warbled, warped cry as it spasmed and smoked, its fur smoldering and burning in places. The group scattered as it fell, slamming into the ground with a breath and a weak sigh, and Pyrrha leapt off, sinking to her knees when she landed and taking a breath.
"Miss Nikos." Winter said worriedly, kneeling beside her and taking a breath to recover after the powerful glyph she'd used, "That was impressive, though I could have done with more in the way of forewarning. Are you well?"
"'M fine." She grunted as the fatigue of using so much of her power at once struck home and robbed her of breath and stamina, standing regardless and cracking her neck idly. She turned and continued on her way, stepping past a bemused Ozpin as she did. "Jaune is close, we can't afford to waste time on these… weak distractions."
"Quite." He agreed, shaking his head and turning to Qrow after taking a moment to appraise the downed beast as it dissolved, gesturing at the scarred armor it left behind for proofs of what he claimed, "This was the Alpha, the others are smaller, weaker and less intelligent. You and Winter assist our forces, we'll move forward."
"Got it."
"Yes, Sir."
They resumed their march, Ruby rushing to walk next to Pyrrha and gushing, "That was amazing, Pyrrha! Even Headmaster Ozpin was having trouble, and you just…" she flailed her arms around herself, almost like she was trying to fly, "whooshed around it, and zapped it! How did you do that?!"
"Yeah!" Yang agreed, throwing an arm around her from the other side with a bright smile, "You and I have got to have a spar when we get back to Beacon. I had no idea you could do that much damage."
As they continued up the hill and the Espintillia dissolved behind them, they chatted brightly among themselves, some of the cheer forced and some natural and both in an effort to forget the situation and place and time they found themselves in. Ozpin almost thought to stop them, but ultimately allowed the conversation to continue. There was no reason to rob them of some of their limited joy, even in this dire place. When they reached the apex of the hill, he took a breath.
"We must press on, and quickly. Remember, our objective is to find and rescue Mister Arc and Miss Belladonna." He turned to meet their eyes, Pyrrha glaring at him at the concept of having to stop their advance. "Atlas' objective and our own are separate. Those two are our priority, once we save them, we can work towards Atlas' goals as well."
"We all understand our purpose here." Ren commented calmly, holding his Stormflowers up with a grim smile. "You needn't continue to tell us."
"Very well." Ozpin accepted, smiling with a sigh and turning around. "Then to Monutain Glenn we go."
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Qrow and Winter both ran as quickly as they could, the former unwilling to transform so close to the latter. The first squad they found were being pummeled, soldiers in the typical armor of Atlas surrounding the creature, firing into the joints of its plates or its underbelly. The Grimm lunged at a trio, and they scattered in an attempt to escape, the snapping jaws closing around one woman's waist with a crunch, her legs kicking in the air before going still after a crunch. The Grimm spat the legs and hips away, the rest noticeably missing from the woman as the remains slid across the ground and left their crimson trail, and Winter grimaced.
"Looks like the fighting just started here, you go ahead." Winter ordered, coming to a stop and falling into her summon stance, rapier raised in the center of her chest with the flat of the blade facing away from her. "I will eliminate the Grimm and follow. We can't delay or more soldiers will die."
He almost argued with her, but relented after only a moment and nodded, taking off into the woods. Once out of sight, he shifted his form and took wing, headed in search of the next fight. Winter took a long breath and inverted her rapier, stabbing the blade into the ground and willing her most powerful summon into existence. Years ago, Weiss had fought it, and managed to win, but it had impressed the eldest Schnee. So she'd sought one out for herself, and earned a new summon.
The Arma Gigas materialized, though a very different one from Weiss' opponent. Hers wielded a long and barbed spear in its main hand and a tower shield in the other, the spear forked at the end slightly and the tower shield as thick as WInter herself. It gave her a nod as it gained independence enough from her and could move of its own volition, and she smiled as the Espintillia turned and snarled at them both, head lowered to protect is vulnerable underbelly warily.
"Go, run." She ordered the soldiers, who hesitated only a moment before making to follow her orders.
She used her summon to block the Grimm when it lung at one of the fleeing Atlesians. The Grimm slammed into the Arma's shield, claws scraping painfully loudly against the shield, until the Arma turned and let it half-fall half-stagger past it, Winter leaping onto the Arma Gigas' shoulder. The Espintillia turned to her, roaring, and she smiled as her mount raised its shield and spear.
"This shouldn't take long."
The Grimm lunged again, and she ordered her summon to turn, dancing out of the way of the attack and stabbing in with its spear. The attack struck home, burying deep in the back of its right leg, just below where the tail gave way to open flesh so it could move. It snarled in pain, stamping away with a dangerous swing of its spike-covered tail, and her mount backpedaled warily. Not so much out of fear as caution, only taking two steps away and pulling its spear back into a protective stance, the point aiming up and away from the ground, resting against its shield.
Looking around them as they circled, each of the Grimm - both the real one and the fake alike, their instincts were both unchecked in such a heated battle - looking for some failing or fault in the other's defence. Her mount kept its shield held in front of it, warily moving at even the slightest threat from its opponent. The spined Grimm on the other hand lumbered slowly, head lowered enough to let it block most attacks and muscular arms clawing at the dirt as it turned, flexing readily, hoping for flesh to sink into.
Eventually, something's patience had to run thin, and luckily for her Grimm weren't a very patient sort. Hers, of course, obeyed her, but the other had no such restrain and charged. She smiled, waiting for the last moment and leaping high, dismissing her summon entirely. It faded and the Grimm slammed through it and into the mighty tree behind it, crunching against the wood and throwing splinters aside as it shuddered and fell, landing on its side with a stunned groan. A flick of her wrist summoned a glyph and she flew with it, her rapier gouging out dark flesh and ending it before it could rise or recover.
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Finding Roman was easy enough, most of the base under Mountain Glenn was empty of White Fang soldiers so he just followed his ability to sense people to the only crowd. It took a long, long time to navigate the tunnels and hallways, but that was practically it. Adam, Blake, Roman and about two dozen White Fang soldiers loading up barrels onto a train turning when they saw him, a couple actually waving a greeting with a sense of recognition echoing from them.
Members who'd been at Blake's supposed rescue, maybe? He couldn't tell.
"Jaune?" "The hell are you doing here? Where's Neo? What the hell is actually happening?" He shook his head to clear it of Roman's thoughts, and the image in his mind of her in that bed. He didn't need that distraction right now. The man turned around, following him a few feet away, "What's going on, kid?"
"We're getting out of here, and we're stealing a ship from Cinder to do it." He said quickly, the man's bright eyes blinking owlishly at him for a few seconds. "It's a long story, okay? But Cinder can't be trusted-"
"Big surprise-"
"And if Neo stays where she is, Cinder will kill her." That killed the smarmy smirk and the sarcastic glint in the man's eyes, Roman grabbing him by the collar and shoving him against the crates behind him, the train on Jaune's other side.
"What do you mean?" He asked lowly, and Jaune relaxed oddly enough. He sensed anxiety, anger and worry from the man, but nothing that would make Jaune feel threatened. "And where the fuck is Neo if she's in so much danger?"
"She's on the ship, she… She got hurt fighting someone a while ago. She's okay!" He assured, watching and feeling the man's fear spike violently. "Just hurt, badly. I need you to go and get her medical supplies, the doctor on board said she needs them and that they should be in storage here, in Mountain Glenn's medical area, I guess. Then we have to get out of here."
"And what about Cinder?" He asked quickly, Jaune watching Blake and Adam talk and order the White Fang soldiers around, loading more crates or going through what they had on them. The Cat Faunus looked at him for a split second and he shook his head curtly, signalling for her to keep the other man busy. "Say we get the shit and get on the ship, Cinder won't just let us leave without her." "And if Neo is out of commission, there's no way in hell we win that fight... Shit." "Even going to Beacon wouldn't be enough at that point."
"We're not going to Beacon, and we're not leaving Cinder behind." Jaune said simply, the man making a pinched face and shaking his head in confusion at the young knight in his hands. "We're taking her with us, whether she wants to go or not. We can't afford to let her warn Salem."
"Salem?" Roman asked quickly, licking his lips nervously, "Who's that now?"
"Cinder's mistress." Jaune explained quickly, the entire area shaking violently as something exploded on the surface and rock rained down on them in a thin, ineffective shower. "It's a long, long story, okay? And I don't have time. I'll explain everything on the ship when we get underway, but you need to be on it. I can't fly."
"What's going on?" Blake asked, joining them as Adam moved away to bark orders at a few of the grunts. Jaune raised an eyebrow, and she added, "Adam will be busy, he's checking over the train to… make sure everything's ready." "Until I figure out how to stop it." "Now, what's going on?"
"The genius here wants us to cut and run." Roman informed her smartly, gesturing at him with a nod and taking a step back. "And best part is, he wants us to take Cinder with us." "As though that's even possible." "Because, you know, we can kill her easy enough and it's not like catching someone is harder than killing them."
"Do you have a plan?" Blake asked, gesturing at the train behind him. "I won't leave that. What they're planning could get a lot of people killed." "And my plans did enough of that in the past…" "So I hope you have a very, very good plan."
"Yeah, I have a plan." Jaune smiled and nodded, pushing off the crate as he sensed the fighting on the surface escalate. Panic, pain, fear and the presence of more minds feeling these things leaking into his consciousness. He grimaced sourly, looking at her, "But I don't have time to explain it. Blake, do whatever you can about that train. Roman, you have to get everyone off our ship except the doctor. She's the only one on board, and she's with Neo. I need her there."
"I'm sure they'll run right off if I ask." Roman muttered, shaking his head and fishing out a cigar to calm his nerves. Looking at Blake, he let out a puff of smoke and spoke around the cigar, "Suggestions, Kitty Cat?" "Better ones than Jaune's, hopefully." "Figure you might know how to get a bunch of those animals moving in one direction, you got history after all."
"Blake!" Adam yelled, approaching them at a jog. He hesitated for only a second before giving Jaune a polite nod, "Arc." Turning back to Blake, "Blake, Atlesian soldiers are at the entrance to the underground hideout. Our men are holding them there, but the Gods damned Headmaster is there." "And he's annihilating our men like tissue paper in a blender." "I have to go and help them."
Seizing his chance, Jaune stepped forward, "We'll hold here then, make sure everything goes according to plan. Blake will fill us in on what we need to know to help." He turned to Roman, smiling thinly at the man, "Roman, go to our ship, send most of the Faunus there to help. Tell them Adam needs them. Take a few to get our supplies first, then send them as well."
"Clever little son of a bitch-" "Can do, kid." Roman agreed, tilting his hat politely at him and turning to address Adam. "Cinder wanted me to handle loading up her ship anyways, may as well send some animals your way while I'm there."
"Send as many as you can. We'll hold them off until we hear the train start blowing holes, and then we'll make our escape." Adam agreed, looking at Jaune for a long moment before sighing. "Good luck, Human." "You'll need it."
They watched the man jog away, shouting for a few of the larger fighters to follow. Roman turned to the blonde, holding out a hand, "See you kids on the other side. Be safe." "Neo needs you idiots alive. You're useless to her dead."
"Now what do we do?" Jaune asked, gesturing at the train and the dozen men and women still quickly loading up the last of the crates.
"We help load." She said simply, shrugging when he raised an eyebrow. "Then they can go help Adam too." "And when they leave, I can sabotage his plan." Jaune nodded uneasily, too worried over Neo to bother asking how she intended to do that, and the woman couldn't help the relief she felt. "Once that's done and dealt with, we… Sort something out, I guess."
"Yeah." He agreed, adjusting Crocea Mors on his waist and sighing before squatting and hefting a crate, "Then let's… Get this over with, I suppose."
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Ruby spun Crescent Rose in a blur of red and black as she moved, using it like a cudgel to sweep the feet from under a guard and slamming the blunted back into her chest as she fell, knocking her out. Turning, she nodded and the other five kept moving through the halls, Ruby looking at Yang as they ran, "Are you sure the Headmaster can handle things by himself?"
"He said he could, and we ought trust him." Weiss offered, jogging along behind them with sweat breaking on her forehead. She never complained, of course, that Schnee pride was too much for that. "A-And my sister will be there soon, with soldiers."
"We just have to keep going, and find Jaune." Pyrrha ordered, running ahead and slamming her shoulder into a White Fang grunt as the small, wiry woman rounded a corner. Her blade flicked out and ended her with a wet wheeze, and she turned, "We have to get him out of here. And Blake too, of course."
The Mistralian only hesitated for a second before moving on, forcing the White Fang woman to the back of her mind, and Ruby looked at Yang. The blonde sighed, shaking her head and following, "Just forget about it, Ruby."
"I'm not sure I can…" She whispered, the blonde nodding understandingly. The brunette shook herself, standing stiffly and hefting her war-scythe again, "Let's keep moving. As long as we're heading forward, I… I can ignore it."
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"General, sir." The communications officer called as the ship rocked, rounds from one of the lighter enemy craft bouncing off his larger ship's armor. "Specialist Schnee is on the ground, reporting a Grimm threat that has been eliminated. Forces should be reaching Mountain Glenn shortly."
"Losses thus far?" He asked idly, ordering his ship to movelower and behind a collapsed building to take cover from the left flank.
The ruined settlement didn't offer too terribly much cover, but two huge mountains of ruined buildings had fallen that served well enough for terrain. His was in the center, closer to the one on the left over the couple dozen almost flattened blocks.
"Minimal, Sir. Around ten percent of deployed forces reported KIA. No WIA or MIA as of now, Sir." The communications officer reported quickly, and James grunted. He hadn't expected much of the last two, if any. MIA soldiers were essentially dead in any respect, and the Grimm didn't use much that would render the average soldier wounded and not kill them after doing it. "She's advising that she is continuing to her previous objective with what is left, Sir. Requesting orders."
"Tell her she has none, and she has my permission to continue to previous objectives." He ordered, standing and looking off to the side, out of a window to watch his ship's cannons turn and fire on one of the enemy vessels. One listed slightly to the other side, showing its belly as smoke wafted from its engines. "Helm, turn towards that wounded ship. Gunnery stations, focus fire on it wherever possible. Let's solve a problem, shall we?"
"Yes, Sir." They both responded as he retook his seat, feeling the ship shift under him to bring the cannons to bear. The barrage of rounds from his heavy guns slammed home, fire cracking where they landed, and he smiled to himself as the maller frigate listed to the side and began to drift towards the ground, floating away towards the forest as well. "Hold fire on it, I don't want it to collapse Mountain Glenn. We have assets on the ground. And someone get me a fighter report!"
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"No, little missie, you don't understand." Roman argued, shaking his head and wagging his finger at the small rabbit Faunus in front of him, her arms crossed and looking up at him in front of the closed ramp that would lead into the frigate when it lowered. "Adam told me himself, get the ship loaded so you animals can help pull his hide out of the fire."
"I doubt very much that he said that." She countered, the taller criminal rolling his eyes. She sighed after a second, turning to look at several men by one of the support legs and jerking her head in a 'come here' motion. "Look, we'll get the supplies from storage. But if we find out that you lied…"
"There is literally no reason for me to lie, Baby Bun." He joked, winking at her and blowing a puff of smoke in her face. She coughed, shaking her head and storming away from him, and he called after her, "Hey! You gonna let me on the ship? Not exactly a fighter, you know, so I don't wanna get caught out here!"
She groaned, pulling out her Scroll and talking into it for a few seconds until the ramp started to lower, "Fine, just stay out of the way, alright? We'll be back soon too, and this ramp won't open again after, so you'd better be on board if you want to come with us."
He nodded, making his way aboard and setting about looking for Neo. he needed to know she was alright, or it'd drive him more insane than he already was. Luckily, the layout of the ship was mostly the same as other Atlesian ships he'd… well, been on was a gentler term than why he was usually on them, or how he'd gotten there, or why. But it worked. A drone was easily found, and told him where the wounded were sent to rest, and so he made his way there easily enough and without many problems.
Walking into the room, he did his best to hide the way his breath hitched, and nodded to the doctor as he took a seat and rested Melodic Cudgel across his lap, "Mornin' doc, don't mind me. Just here to keep an eye on my psychopath, hope you don't mind."
"Well, I-"
"Don't mind at all?" He finished, smiling widely at her and patting his weapon affectionately. "Good, because I ain't leaving. I'm here for both your sakes. I got a report from a mutual friend of a friend," a head tilted at the wounded woman and a meaningful raising of his eyebrows, "that the little ice cream queen here might be in danger."
"Then you are welcome to stay, but I still need my supplies for her." She asserted hardly, swallowing nervously and looking at the man. "If that isn't sorted out, then we'll need thicker walls. Because this young lady will deafen us both, even if your ears aren't as strong as mine. Mutes can't speak, but I've heard them make noises that would draw sympathy from a Grimm itself."
"I have people gettin' it now, Doc." He said weakly, looking at the sleeping woman worriedly before turning his gaze back to her. "And I'll protect her, so don't fret your cute little ears."
"My ears will do whatever they damn well please." She snapped back, turning back to her console with a scowl. "Fretting included."
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Ozpin turned to the side as he strode forward across the clearing around Mountain Glenn towards the massive wall that made up this area's 'underground' section's exterior, spinning his cane by a finger as he approached the last panicking White Fang soldier, allowing it to strike the large bear Faunus as he stepped by and render him unconscious.
Several Atlesians ran up behind him, shouldering their weapons and looking around warily, "Sir, the sector..." a burst of rounds in the distance distracted her, the small woman adjusting her grip nervously and turning her torso towards the sound warily, "seems to be clear. Orders?"
He chuckled, looking up at the dilapidated wall, tones and bricks littering the ground around him as much from the fighting as time itself. Behind them, further up the hill, the dark trees from earlier swayed in wind both natural and from the battle above. Around him, cold, dark stone from a fallen building of at least several stories curled around them almost protectively. Ozpin looked the way they'd come, where he'd separated from the students to let them sneak in through a smaller hole in the wall that lead into a series of passages and sighed.
"I don't quite do orders the same way you are used to, corporal." The wiry, dirty woman shifted uncomfortably when he looked at her and he nodded. "However, if you would please find a way to blast into the catacombs, I would greatly appreciate it"
"Actually." A woman spoke from nearby, voice echoing around them almost ethereally. Ozpin took a moment and turned, looking up at the highest point of the rubble and setting his cane in front of him, leaning against it, "I would very much appreciate it if you didn't go around blowing holes in my hideouts. It's quite rude, you understand."
"Yes, well, my apologies but the owners appear to have stolen a couple items of mine." He shrugged, giving the corporal a look of warning when her hand flexed on her rifle. Returning his gaze to the red-dressed woman, he smiled diplomatically, "So if you'll just return them, I will gladly be on my way."
"That is a very tempting offer, truly it is, Headmaster." She feigned a defeated sigh, gesturing overhead, "But even were my mistress agreeable to such a deal, I highly doubt Atlas would turn around and allow my allies their goals."
"Not likely, no." He sighed dramatically, kicking the base of his cane and holding it out to his right side like a rapier after a half-spin. "I suppose I'll have to settle for asking for a dance, then."
"A dance?" She asked coyly, pressing fingertips to her chest and smiling demurely, "Why, Headmaster, I am shocked you would be so forward." He smiled and nodded his head to the side, the Atlesians backing away quickly as she descended. "But yes. Let us dance, for a time. I don't have to leave for a while yet."
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