Breathe Chapter 79: Respite

Leaning against a wall with her arms crossed, Raven did her best to ignore the sterile smell and the soft, rhythmic beeping of a heart rate monitor that sounded next to Qrow’s. The idiot bit off more than he could chew and paid the price for it.

He’d been in pretty critical condition... Worse than some of her former tribe members who’d died to Grimm, although, he had the benefit of a hospital while they were forced to make do with whatever they had available on their person.

It also helped that Qrow was a trained Huntsman and thus, had access to Aura which would passively heal his wounds while he was sedated, an added necessity to keep the medical staff safe.

Raven snorted softly.

Even with one foot in the grave, Qrow was still strong enough to frighten these weaklings. It reminded her of a time years ago... Back when they were still in Beacon. Things had changed since then.

Hearing the door click open, Raven rested her hand on Omen's handle, watching as Ozpin slowly made his way into the room.

“Oh, it’s you,” she noted, refusing to move her hand from her sword's hilt. “What do you want?”

Stopping at his bedside, he stared down at Qrow’s unconscious body, looking over the bandages with a critical eye. “The doctors tell me that he got here just in time. Any longer and he would have died. You have my thanks for saving him.”

Huffing, she turned away, opting to look out of the window instead. “Those doctors are full of crap. Qrow wouldn’t have died to something like this... It’d take far more than that to kill a Branwen,” she said pridefully, before taking a quieter tone that even Ozpin wouldn’t hear. “He’s too strong for that.”

“I dare say that a shattered ribcage and ruptured lung is serious enough, but I have known some throughout my life that would treat such wounds as a mere inconvenience,” Ozpin hummed. “Did he say anything to you about the attack?”

It’d been a little hard to make out what he was saying when he was coughing up blood and falling in and out of unconsciousness. There was, however, one thing that he did manage to say…

“Hound.”

Sighing, Ozpin rubbed his eyes. “That doesn’t bode well.”

Of course it didn’t. Unlike a lot of Huntsmen out there, Qrow wasn’t a weakling. He could put up a decent fight, even against a Maiden. He wouldn’t be able to beat one, but he’d make them earn their victory.

For something to do this to him...

“QROW!”

Dropping into a low stance while gripping Omen’s handle tightly as the door was all but kicked open, Raven let out an annoyed sigh when she saw that it was only Taiyang.

Missing a boot, his clothes were ripped and covered in mud while sweat dripped down his forehead. All in all, he looked like a crazed hobo that’d somehow managed to break into the hospital.

Rushing in, Taiyang briefly paused to look at Raven and Ozpin, before making his way over to her brother's side. “Oh god, is he...”

“It was touch and go for a while, but he’s stable,” Ozpin replied. “Thanks in no small part to Raven. If he’d gotten here a little later, things might have been a little grimmer. He’s being kept sedated until the worst of his wounds heal.”

“Thank goodness.” Sinking down to his knees, he breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m the reason he was there to begin with. I don’t know what I would have done if he’d died, let alone how Ruby and Yang would have reacted... How did this happen?”

Outside of the obvious, he got his ass handed to him, Taiyang should already know what the cause was behind her brother's sorry state.

“Unfortunately, it seems Qrow came across one of Salem’s newer creations,” Ozpin sighed. “One that a few of my staff have come across. So far there haven’t been any fatalities, but that may no longer be the case going forward.”

That was putting it lightly.

“Are you telling me that one of Salem’s Grimm managed to do this to Qrow?” Taiyang asked. “And now it’s on patch?!”

“I don’t believe so, no. General Ironwood has already deployed his drones to sweep the area,” Ozpin answered. “From my understanding, this was Salem’s retaliation for us having captured several of her agents. It was an attempt to kill one of our own with either you or Qrow being the target.”

Sighing, Taiyang brushed his hand through his hair. “This is such a mess... What am I going to tell my girls?”

“Unfortunately, you may have to wait. They’re currently out on a mission with their mentor,” Ozpin noted, lightly tapping his cane against the floor. “Although, this does count as a family emergency. I could send for them. It would be a few hours minimum before they manage to return, but–”

“No,” Taiyang snapped. “Don’t tell them about this... Not yet. If this thing can do this to Qrow, then I don’t want them anywhere near it. They’ll be safer far away from here.”

“Very well, I’ll leave them be,” Ozpin hummed. “Just know that they’ll be returning once their mission ends, which should be sometime this week.”

“Hopefully by then, Qrow will have recovered and we can find out exactly what this thing is after,” Taiyang sighed.

“Indeed,” Ozpin murmured. Checking his Scroll, he hummed thoughtfully. “It seems that my attention is needed elsewhere. I’ll leave Qrow in your capable hands. All things considered, he got very lucky this time.”

Taiyang let out a short laugh. “I doubt Qrow would feel the same... You know how he is when it comes to luck.”

Watching as Ozpin left, Raven closed her eyes and let out an annoyed sigh, wanting desperately to be anywhere else but here.

“Raven... Thank you.”

Peaking an eye open, she found Taiyang sitting in a chair beside Qrow’s bed. “It wasn’t quite as noble as you would imagine. I could have acted sooner... Possibly even prevented all of this, but I didn’t. You shouldn’t thank me.”

“Right, your rule of only saving a person once,” Taiyang nodded, not looking the least bit bothered. “So what made you change your mind this time?”

Pulling up a chair, she let out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t know. I considered leaving him and then... Found myself back in Beacon with Qrow in my arms.” Staring down at her hands, she clenched them shut. “Have I really grown so weak that I can’t even follow through on my word?”

Staring at her for a few moments, Taiyang cracked a smile, before letting out a genuine laugh, waving apologetically as he got a hold of himself. “I’m sorry, it’s just... That’s such a Raven thing to say.”

“Taiyang,” Raven growled, gripping her sword. “You have precisely five seconds to explain what you meant by that before you end up bunking with Qrow.”

“Take it easy. I just found it funny that you’re so worried over doing the right thing for once.” Taiyang grinned, settling down. “Actions speak louder than words. To you, breaking your rule might seem like a weakness, but what you’re really doing is overcoming your past self and that’s pretty damn strong if you ask me.”

“Overcoming my past self,” Raven murmured thoughtfully.

...Breathe...

Sitting on a padded seat, I stared out the window, watching as the landscape passed by. Ideally, I would have preferred travelling by Airship, but there had been a few minor issues... Just some residual damage from the last time we’d used it, forcing it to be taken in for repairs.

Getting another Airship was easy though, right? There were always places willing to rent them and Beacon had more than a few on hand.

Only... With three extra Academies to cater for, Beacon had decidedly run out. The only ones left being those that were reserved for emergencies only and the military.

Vale on the other hand did have a few available... For sale that is. Thanks in no small part to the Vytal Festival, all the rental Airships had been... Well, rented.

Instead of waiting a few days for repairs to be done, asking to borrow one from Atlas or for one of Beacon’s Airships to return, we’d put it towards a vote and come up with a unique solution… Namely, using the train.

It wasn’t quite as quick as an Airship, but it’d get us there sooner than if we’d just waited... And it was a good bit faster than the one Pyrrha, Winter and I had used when confronting that spider, meaning it wouldn’t take a full night to cut through the mountains.

Funnily enough, I was pretty sure that this was the exact same track as last time.

“We’ve got snacks!” Ruby announced, sliding the cabin door open with several paper bags in hand. Falling into her seat, she placed them neatly next to herself. “So who wants what? We’ve got cookies, cake and crumpets... Whatever those are... Oh yeah, and Yang’s got the drinks.”

“Thanks sis... Really feeling the love,” Yang hummed, balancing two trays of cups in hand. Passing the cups around the compartment, she winked when she handed me mine. “Just had to do a quick taste test with that one... To see if I wanted coffee or hot chocolate.”

“So you went with coffee instead?” I asked, taking a sip from my cup.

Sitting down, Yang placed the trays on the ground before raising her own cup. “Hmmm, nope.” Grinning cheekily, she accepted a cookie from Ruby and dipped it into her drink, drawing an inspired gasp from said Huntress in training.

Settling in, the ride was oddly relaxing. Instead of rushing to our destination, we could take our time and relax, moving around the cabin as we pleased.

Not having to fly an Airship, Winter was able to relax for once. Choosing to spend her time watching the scenery pass by with her head on my shoulder while sneakily holding my hand when we went through a tunnel.

Pyrrha on the other hand had taken to chatting with Yang while Ruby occasionally chipped in. Weiss was sneaking Zwei cookies when she thought no one was looking. Judging by the amused grin on Yang’s face, she’d noticed.

Blake, however, had chosen to sit directly opposite me, far away from Zwei. She’d mostly kept to herself, opting to read one of her books, although, based on the way her ears were twitching, she was still keeping close tabs on the conversation.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Yang hummed loudly. “What’s this mission about? I know there’s been some deaths, but what exactly are we expected to do here?”

“Ah, well,” Pyrrha murmured awkwardly. “We’re looking for the Grimm behind the deaths... Once we find it, we kill it and, well... Winter’s better at explaining things like this.”

Sitting up with a slightly disgruntled grunt, Winter smoothed her uniform and brushed her hair back in a professional manner.

“The main order of business is discovering the identity and location of the Grimm while also keeping the citizens safe, therefore the four of you will be assisting us in that matter.”

“So, pretty much what we did during the semester break?” Yang asked.

“It will be a little more involved, but yes,” Winter nodded. “We’ll be expected to find and exterminate the Grimm plaguing the town. Unfortunately, we can’t say for sure what it is. There are a number of Grimm that consume humans and Faunus alike, but few that are quite so... Picky.”

That was putting it mildly. Most Grimm didn’t even care about food... Having no need for it to begin with. In cases where a person was eaten by a Grimm, it was done to kill, never after death.

In this case, however, some of the bodies had been there for a number of weeks, with the oldest one stretching to just over two months. All but the most recent one had been picked clean of bone.

Yang shivered in disgust at the reminder. “Yeah... That’s a mental image I’d like to forget. There’s no chance that it could happen to us too, right?”

“No. While the Autopsy results were rather inconclusive, the victims’ identities revealed far more,” Winter answered. “Whatever it is, it’s only targeted civilians and even then, it was those that had no way of fighting back... It doesn’t appear fond of confrontation.”

Humming softly, Yang rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “So I guess you could say it’s spineless.”

Groaning, Ruby palmed her face. “Ugh, Yang... No. Not the bad puns.”

“Bad puns?” Yang asked, grinning brightly despite the perceived insult. “What, you got a bone to pick with me?”

Letting out a surprised snort of laughter, Pyrrha turned away, muttering a quick “I’m sorry,” while covering her mouth. “I just... Wasn’t expecting that.”

“I’ve got loads more where that came from... If you’re up for it?”

Blinking, Pyrrha nodded. “I would be happy to hear them.”

Pulling her hood over her head, Ruby whined softly, pretending that she didn’t exist. Blake on the other hand placed a set of headphones over her ears, although, seeing as it didn’t cover the cat ears above her head, she’d still be forced to listen in, while Winter... She’d taken out a note book and was waiting patiently.

Weiss, however...

“Ruby, do you mind holding Zwei for a moment,” Weiss asked, handing the backpack containing said dog over to her team leader. Standing up, she stretched lightly, before moving towards the cabin door. “I need a little air.”

“Wait,” Ruby begged, reaching out towards her partner as the door slid shut. “Take me with you.” Sighing, she lowered her hand and looked down at Zwei who tilted his head to the side. “Yeah, I don’t get it either, boy.”

Stifling a cough, Winter leaned forward. “If I may ask... Is Weiss alright? She seemed a little quieter than usual.”

“Yeah, she, uh...” Ruby trailed off, looking for the right words.

“She got a call from her... Well, your father,” Blake answered, slipping her headphones off.

Narrowing her eyes, Winter clenched her hands. “What did he say?” Venom dripped from her tone.

“Don’t know,” Yang hummed. “She didn’t want to talk about it, so we left it.”

Seeing Winter grow angrier, I stood up, patting her shoulder as I made my way towards the door. “I’ll be right back... I just need to check on something real quick, do any of you want anything while I’m out?”

“Yeah, sure.” Yang grinned. “I’ll have a pint sized order of Weisscream.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Closing the door behind me, I quickly made my way to the back of the train, passing through several compartments on my way, some of them packed with people while a few of them were completely empty.

Being sure to check each one as I passed, I opened the final door, finding Weiss leaning against the railing, watching as the scenery blurred by.

Hearing the door slam shut, Weiss jumped and slowly turned around. “Oh... Coal. I’m sorry, I wasn’t really paying attention. Did you need me for something?”

“Not really.” Stepping forward, I leaned on the railing next to her. “I just wanted to check to see how you were doing. We haven’t really had the chance to talk since the dance.”

Blushing lightly, Weiss let out a sigh and turned away. “It all comes back to that, doesn’t it?” She muttered under her breath.

“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” I hummed.

“No, I want to, it’s just...” Looking as if she was carrying a heavy weight on her shoulder, she slumped forward. “Someone took a video of me that night and my father just so happened to see it.”

Ah, I think I was starting to see what was going on.

“He didn’t approve.”

“Quite the opposite actually. He was happy... Overjoyed even,” Weiss answered, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the railing. “Why wouldn’t he be, that just meant that he had greater access to you. He even went so far as to congratulate me on furthering the SDC’s interests.”

Wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders, I found her cold to the touch. It seemed that, despite being outside in sub zero temperatures, she hadn’t thought to use her Aura to keep herself warm.

“On my tenth birthday, my father admitted to my mother that he only married her for the company,” Weiss continued numbly. “I don’t ever want to end up like that.”

“You won’t.” Shrugging my jacket off, I draped it over her shoulders. As if she’d suddenly realized just how cold it was, Weiss began to shiver. “Let’s get you somewhere warmer.”

Nodding, she made it all of two steps before her heel managed to get caught in the metal grate. Forcing herself out of it, there was the faintest glimmer of a thread that caught her leg, sending her tumbling into my chest.

Wrapping my arms around her waist to keep her steady, I shot a suspicious glance towards the door, spotting a flash of familiar white hair, before turning back towards Weiss who was gripping my shirt tightly.

“Do you mind if we... Stay like this for a moment.” Weiss shivered. “It’s really cold and you’re really warm.”

“Sure,” I hummed, drawing her in closer. “We can stay here as long as you want.”

...Breathe...

Falling into his office chair, blood splattered on the ground, although none of it was his own. Resting his head on his table, Watts took a moment for himself to just... Think, although, that was easier said than done, especially after spending several days putting Hazel back together... And he did mean days.

He wasn’t even sure of what week it was or if the Vytal Festival was still coming or had long since passed. Everything just seemed to blur into one hazy blob of blood and gore, mixed with brief windows of time where he’d been forced to build one thing or another in order to help keep Hazel alive.

Looking over some of the equipment he’d used, it was almost enough to draw a laugh from the man. He couldn’t even remember what some of them had been for, but they certainly did their job.

The man in question was currently floating in an orange glass vat of Merlot’s design with various tubes attached to black metallic rods that’d been implanted through several key locations in his body, feeding him a highly potent mixture of Dust... Along with some special additives, courtesy of Salem.

Everything had been accounted for to assure maximum survivability... From the specialized mixture of air Hazel breathed down to weak electric shocks that pulsed through the water, stimulating his muscles.

As much as it pained him to admit, Merlot had been a genius. Of course his inventions wouldn’t work for the majority of Remnant. In all likelihood, they’d end in the user’s death, but for someone like Hazel... That rare 1 percent, they were nothing short of miraculous.

He was almost eager to see what would become of the man once he finished healing.

“You’ve truly outdone yourself this time, Arthur.”

Looking over to where Salem stood, he puffed his chest out with pride. “Yes, well... I strive to do my best. We should be able to leave Hazel as he is now. There’s nothing more that needs to be done for him.”

With everything that was being pumped through his body, the artificial enhancements that Watts had personally implanted and his own potent Aura, Hazel wouldn’t be dying anytime soon.

Watts on the other hand needed rest.

“Hm... Yes. Hazel will recover. If anything, I feel this will only make him stronger,” Salem hummed thoughtfully, brushing her hand against the vat. “But with him seen to, I find myself wondering what’s become of my hound.”

Letting out a tired sigh, Watts had to physically restrain himself from running a hand through his hair, lest he get blood in it... Not that there wasn’t already blood there, just... Not quite so much.

Wiping his hands on the rag that had once been his favourite shirt, Watts placed his Scroll on the table and got to work connecting it to the Airship’s network to boost his signal. It might not be as fast as he would like, but it got the job done.

There was absolutely no way he was going outside without knowing where that thing was. Hazel only survived its attack through sheer chance. Watts doubted he’d be quite so lucky.

“If you give me a moment, I may just be able to...” Blinking as a dot showed up on his map, Watts idly twirled his moustache, before wincing when he managed to get some of Hazel’s blood on his hand. “It appears to be in the Forever Fall forest, heading towards Beacon... Although, it keeps going off course... Heading towards the old railway line.”

Hitting a few more keys, he was able to see that the railway line had been reopened... Initially, it was just for the transportation of Dust, but recently, it seemed to have taken on a more commercial use.

Letting her gaze linger on the screen for a while longer, Salem turned to leave. “Continue tracking her... And do let me know when she stops.”

“Of course.”

Waiting for the door to close, Watts got to work, hoping to handle this quickly so that he could finally rest, only to be interrupted by an alert that popped up on his Scroll that let him know that his little facial identity virus that kept him off the CCT and out of the Kingdoms eyes had been disabled.

“Bugger.”

...Breathe...

Walking down a long dirt road surrounded by the forest on either side, I was reminded of when Maria and I had travelled across Mistral on foot.

Although, this time, she was back in Beacon enjoying the massage chair she tried to hide under the bill of the Airship I’d bought, while I was out here hiking through the woods.

It was strangely nostalgic. Well, with one exception.

“Anything yet?”

“Nope.”

“...How about now?”

“Still no.”

“...Oh come on, you have to see something now!”

Giving Ruby a small smile, I shook my head. “Sorry.”

Not having a lot of options for transportation after leaving the train, we’d opted to walk the rest of the way. Luckily, the town at the root of all of this was fairly close by, being only a handful of miles away. The only problem being that it was pretty easy to get lost out here, hence the walking.

“Seriously, you’d think that your shadow thingy would show up by now,” Ruby complained.

Oh... And there was also that.

“It only really shows up whenever I was in danger or something big was going on,” I said, getting an annoyed grumble in response. “So not seeing it is a good thing.”

“But we’re on a mission in the Black Forest... There has to be something dangerous in here that’s triggering it,” Ruby muttered. “Maybe it’s here, but you’re just not seeing it because you’re not looking in its direction. Try looking over there!”

Given that it’d always appeared in my line of sight, I somehow doubted that, but, humouring her, I looked anyway... Only to see something small darting between the shadows.

It seemed Zwei saw it too as the little dog immediately began growling, before hopping out of his backpack, chasing after it.

“Zwei, no,” Ruby called out, chasing after him. “Bad dog, come back here.”

“I’ll get them.”

Sighing, I ran after her, expecting to chase her and Zwei through miles of the forest, only to jump to the side when I found Ruby standing in a small clearing only a few dozen feet into the forest while Zwei stood a short distance away, barking at a nearby tree.

“What the heck, Zwei? You can’t just go running off on your own like that.”

“Ruby, stop. Something’s not right here.”

At first glance, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the clearing, but taking a closer look at our surroundings, it was littered with hundreds of obscured holes, large enough for a rat to climb through... Destabilizing the ground.

Zwei was smart enough to realize that and had been careful with where he stood, while Ruby and I were large enough that we wouldn’t fall into any of them.

“So, hey, have you guys got Zwei yet?” Yang asked, poking her head through the foliage. “Because we’re pretty much here...”