Breathe Chapter 47: Rollercoaster

Travel by train, while quite a bit slower than traveling by an airship, was a little more relaxing. Unfortunately, none of us would be able to relax until we finished passing through the mountains.

Although the mission was fairly straightforward… Travel the train tracks eastward through the mountains and kill any Grimm that we encountered… I wasn’t entirely sure that it was a good idea.

I was confident that I would be able to take care of any Grimm that attacked and I knew that both Pyrrha and Winter were more than capable of looking after themselves, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel a little worried.

This wasn’t exactly a regular mission. Fully trained Huntsmen and Huntresses had died trying to kill the Grimm that made these mountains its home. Whether they’d been killed due to the Grimm being too much for them to handle or because of environmental factors remained to be seen.

Seeing the window mist up again, I rubbed it with my sleeve and peered out into the dark snow filled night. It didn’t help that it was a moonless night, making it even harder to see what was going on outside. The only real light came from the front and the back of the train, revealing very little of what was to the side.

The train jolted slightly. Looking down I saw that we’d transferred over to a bridge with a sheer drop into an inky abyss.

Feeling someone bump into me, Pyrrha’s face appeared next to mine as she stared out the window alongside me.

“There’s not really much to see out here… I wonder what it would look like during the day.”

“We do still need to return to Beacon after we’re done here,” I began. “Maybe we could take a train back… One that leaves earlier so we can see the mountain range during the day.”

“So long as we’re not busy,” Pyrrha hummed lightly, leaning into my side. “That would be grand.”

I looked towards Winter who sat opposite us. Her eyes were closed as she took deep practiced breaths.

“What do you think, Winter?”

Opening her eyes, she glanced at us before nodding. “While I would prefer to practice using my Breathing Style, traveling by train does give me the opportunity to focus my full concentration on mastering my breath…Assuming we’re not needed elsewhere, I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”

The train jolted once more as it turned to the left, traveling around one of the mountains.

“There is however one thing that I would like to ask you,” Winter continued. “You once mentioned that the final step for Total Concentration Breathing is being able to use it permanently. How would we go about learning that?”

“You’ll first need to work on using Total Concentration Breathing for an entire day,” I replied. “Once you’re able to do that, you’ll have to try doing it while asleep and have someone wake you every time you revert back to your original breathing pattern.”

I owed Oscar a lot for actually following through and spending entire nights monitoring my breathing pattern. That definitely wouldn’t have been fun for him… Come to think of it, Pyrrha was an extremely heavy sleeper. That was going to make my job of waking her a little harder.

“That sounds rather difficult,” Pyrrha hummed.

“It is, but it’s worth it,” I replied. “Once you master Total Concentration Constant, you’ll be able to keep your Aura active at all hours without feeling the slightest bit of strain.”

I was actually pretty sure that’s why Jaune was able to progress so quickly when he had zero experience with using his Aura. His Semblance passively boosted his Aura, allowing him to train both longer and harder.

The average student would need years of training before they would be able to attend an Academy like Beacon, but due to his Semblance, Jaune only needed a few months.

“Then I’ll…” Winter paused as the train shuddered violently.

Seeing what looked like a hoard of Grimm zooming past the window, I slowed down my perception and was able to observe what it was we’d just hit while Pyrrha and Winter jumped into action, appearing as if they were moving in slow motion.

There’d been an entire herd of Griffon Grimm just outside of the train which wasn’t exactly odd, they did have a tendency to attack anything they came across. The weird and slightly unsettling part, however, was that they weren’t here by choice.

Each one of them had a single wing torn off, removing their ability to fly. There was also something that forced them to stay on the tracks, keeping them from being able to move too far. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a good look at whatever it was as it’d been destroyed by the time it passed my window.

Allowing my perception to return to its normal speed, I stood up and followed Winter and Pyrrha who were headed to the front of the train, gripping my Katana tightly.

One of the windows behind us shattered as a single Griffon smashed through it. Tearing through the metal shell, it pulled its way into the train, straining to stay in.

Moving on instinct, I unsheathed my sword and prepared to decapitate the Grimm in a single move, only to see something odd. The Grimm was ignoring me. Instead of trying to kill us, it was trying to drag itself further inside the train… As if it was running from something.

Darting past me, Pyrrha’s spear impaled the Griffon’s head, putting a swift end to it.

With the Grimm no longer able to resist, it was torn out of the train from the hole it had made, taking a sizable portion of the wall with it. Letting the icy night air pour in.

The trains shuddering died down almost immediately after the Grimm was pulled free. It lasted a few brief moments, before we entered a tunnel and the leftover debris that had been poking out from the destroyed window smashed into the tunnel's wall.

Wincing at the sound of metal screeching against a stone wall, Pyrrha turned her attention towards the hole the Grimm had been pulled through. Eyeing it, she took a cautious step backward, holding her spear at the ready.

“Were those the Grimm that we were supposed to kill?” She asked.

“It’s possible, but unlikely,” Winter replied. “While they did cause some issues, Griffons are hardly a massive threat on their own.”

Exiting the tunnel, the metal screeching subsided and we were met with a blast of cold air that rushed in through the hole in the train.

Hearing the sound of dozens of things scurrying on the roof, a new sound invaded the train as a window behind me was shattered.

Turning around, I thrust my sword forward, impaling whatever it was that’d just tried to enter the train, killing it.

Feeling its legs wrap around my wrist, I pulled my arm back into the train, hoping to see what kind of Grimm had just attacked me. Exposing it to the light, I felt my skin begin to crawl as a cold shiver shot down my spine.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Is that a…” Pyrrha trailed off.

“Yeah,” I muttered.

The body of a rapidly evaporating spider Grimm slid off my sword and dropped onto the floor below. Its legs curled up in the death position and its eyes a gleaming red. Looking up, I heard the sound of dozens more of these things skittering across the roof of the train, rushing towards our position, each the size of a large dog.

Out of all the Grimm it could have been, they had to be in the form of spiders. Even now, I wanted to pat myself down to make sure that none of them had attached themselves to my body… My back especially.

I’d rather fight the Wyvern without my sword than these things.

“Get ready. More are on their way,” I warned.

Taking a hissed breath, I gripped my sword tightly, turning it bright red. I wasn’t going to be spending any more time than was strictly necessary with these Grimm.

Like clockwork, the Spider Grimm smashed through the windows with several crawling through the hole in the side of the train.

Watching as one lunged at me, I lashed out, cutting it in half, before turning to the next one. Next to me, Pyrrha stood with her shield raised and spear readied, taking up a more defensive role while exterminating the spiders while Winter was simply slashing her way through them with a single sword.

They weren’t especially difficult to kill, but they had numbers and maneuverability on their side, being able to crawl on the ceiling and walls along with the floor.

It only took a handful of minutes before we’d managed to kill them all. I double checked to make sure that there weren’t any stragglers that had hidden away, waiting to ambush us. They hadn’t been that challenging, but that didn’t make them any less creepy. I was beginning to regret taking this mission.

Taking a moment to relax, each of us stumbled as something large collided with the train. Tilting dangerously to one side, it threatened to derail and fall off the mountain into the inky darkness below.

Straining, Pyrrha raised her hands, before dropping them, forcing the train back onto its tracks with her Semblance. Taking a breath, she stumbled slightly, before regaining her footing.

“Pyrrha…”

“I’m fine,” Pyrrha reassured me. “It was just… That was a lot of Aura used suddenly.”

Jerking, the train began to slow down significantly as it fought to climb the incline we were currently on.

“This train can’t stand to take too many more hits,” Winter began. “If we’re going to kill this thing, then we’re going to need to do it before it does any more damage.”

If that was the case, then we were going to need to be outside where we could land a clear hit on it. “We need to get onto the roof.”

“It’s not ideal, but it will work,” Winter nodded.

Walking over to the hole in the side of the train, I cautiously looked for any sign of the Grimm. Finding none, I jumped up and grabbed onto the roof, pulling myself up. Winter followed next with Pyrrha climbing out after her.

Switching her gun to its rifle form, Pyrrha fired off a shot into the air where it exploded, dimly lighting up our surroundings.

Unable to make out much of anything in the dark, I accessed the Transparent World and found a lot more of my surroundings revealed to me.

Looking over to the rear of the train, I found the reason for our speed slowing. A thick web had been attached to the back of the train, preventing it from moving too fast. Looking off in the distance towards what it was attached to, I twitched.

“Oh come on!”

“What do you see?” Winter asked.

“A really big spider,” I replied, doing my best to not make eye contact with it. It seemed the thing had taken to ripping off scrap pieces of the trains it’d destroyed and attaching them to its body, giving itself a form of armor. “Pyrrha, do you think you could shoot it if I directed you?”

“I could try,” Pyrrha hummed, a little unsure of herself.

That was better than nothing. Moving to Pyrrha’s side, I helped direct her, letting her rest her rifle on my arm as I pointed towards the Grimm. “It should be right there.”

“Okay.” Nodding, Pyrrha took a deep breath and exhaled before squeezing her trigger.

Her gun went off with a crack and her bullet hit the Spider Grimm only a moment later. Fire ignited across its form revealing it for all the world to see.

Letting out a loud screech, the Grimm thrashed around in pain, spreading the fire further across its frame. Either it was extremely flammable by nature or there was something on the scrap that it coated itself with that helped spread the flames.

The train suddenly jolted forward as the fire burned through the Grimms web. Grabbing onto Pyrrha’s side to keep her from falling off, dozens of Winter’s black Glyphs formed across the top of the train, giving us a much needed foothold.

Seeing that we were escaping, the Grimm rushed towards us. Screeching in anger and pain, its flaming form neared the back of the train. Jumping on, its large form crinkled the outer metal shell.

Rushing forward, I glanced towards Pyrrha who remained at my side before looking towards Winter who followed closely behind.

Timing my attack with Pyrrha and Winter’s, I took a hissed breath and brought my sword down, slicing through one of the Grimms legs.

Pyrrha lashed out with her own strike, cutting through one of the Grimms other legs with Winter landing the last blow. Swinging both of her blades in a wide arc, she slashed through the Grimms mandibles, causing it to rear back in pain.

“Sun Breathing: Dance”
 -500 AP

“Flame Breathing: Unknowing fire”

“Frost Breathing: Icy Maw”

Screeching as it spewed black fluid from its wounds, the Grimm smashed its legs into the ground on either side of the train, forcing it to suddenly stop. Jumping off, it spat several thick strands of web towards us.

Cutting through the Grimms web, I kept an eye on it as it darted around the train. Seemingly changing its tactics, the smoldering Spider charged towards Pyrrha.

Taking a hissed breath, I aimed to kill it in one move, only to stop when a massive Death Stalker collided with the Spiders frame, sending it stumbling to the side.

Its pincers latched on to the Spiders damaged legs, making it shriek in pain. Raising its tail, the Death Stalker brought it down rapidly, stabbing its stinger into the Spiders side, but failing to breach it any further due to the scrap armor the Spider had coated itself in.

Spraying several globs of web at the Death Stalker, the Spider tore itself free from the summons pincers and maneuvered itself around it, wrapping it in its web. Managing to circle around once, it hissed when one of Pyrrha’s explosive rounds impacted its face.

Taking a breath of her own, Pyrrha stretched her hand towards the Grimm, clenching her fist shut. Taking control of the scrap armor, she used it to squeeze the Spider Grimm tightly, before dragging it towards the train.

Giving one final heave, the Grimm was settled against the train's side. Releasing her hold on it, she took several deep breaths as the Spider attempted to skitter away.

“Not happening,” I muttered, grabbing one of its legs in order to keep it from escaping.

The Spider fought tooth and nail to escape, but it wouldn’t be able to escape. Summoning a group of Ursa, Winter had them latch onto the Grimms legs, pinning it in place.

Unable to escape the summoned Ursa’s hold, the Spider Grimm finally stilled. For a moment, the mountainside was quiet, before the Grimm let out an ear piercing shriek that echoed throughout the mountain pass.

Wincing at the sudden noise, I glanced towards Pyrrha and Winter, it seemed that they were both nearing their limit, but neither of them would stop until they killed the Grimm.

Seeing them ready themselves, I took a hissed breath and followed their lead. Launching herself towards the Spider, Winter held her blade out in front of her, aiming to pierce its head.

Spotting the approaching Schnee, the Grimm lashed out with its two damaged legs, only to be stopped by my and Pyrrha’s blades. Completing our techniques, our swords slashed through the Grimms legs, cutting deeply into its body as Winter’s blade pierced its head.

“Flame Breathing: Blazing Universe”

“Sun Breathing: Clear Blue Sky”
 -300AP

“Frost Breathing: Frozen Peak.”

Letting out one last deafening shriek that shook the ground, the Spider’s body went limp and began to evaporate. Taking a breath, I allowed myself to relax now that it was dead.

It hadn’t been a powerful Grimm, especially when compared to something like the Hydra, but it had been tricky. Using ambush and hit and run tactics in an attempt to wear us down… If we’d been fighting this on flat ground without needing to be on a train, the fight would have been far easier.

I could see how this thing had been able to kill fully qualified Huntsmen.

“That takes care of that,” I hummed, flicking the evaporating black fluid off my sword, I sheathed it.

Glancing back towards the train, it seemed that the Grimm had coated the rail wheels in its web. Luckily, it didn’t seem like it would be a problem as it was beginning to break down now that the Spider was dead.

“That was exhausting,” Pyrrha muttered as her Aura flickered dangerously. “Any longer and it would have gotten dangerous for me. I think I might actually prefer it if we took an airship back… If that’s alright with everyone?”

I wasn’t about to complain and I doubt Winter would either. There had been far too many spiders on this mountain for me.

Hearing the sound of something rumbling in the distance, I sighed. I swear, if there was another one of those Spider Grimm, I was going to lose it. Looking in the direction the sound was coming from, I blinked at what I saw.

It wasn’t a Grimm, no… It was something else that I’d never actually dealt with before. An avalanche. It couldn’t be a coincidence that this happened right after we killed the Grimm. My best guess… Its shrieks had triggered the avalanche.

“We need to get out of here… Right now,” I said urgently.

“Why? What’s…” Pyrrha began.

“Look over there,” I said, pointing to a wave of snow rushing towards us, visible from the train's front light.

We wouldn’t be able to outrun it, but we could at least take shelter in the train and avoid being knocked off the cliff.

“I will deal with this,” Winter muttered.

Narrowing her eyes, she stepped forward and stabbed her blade into the ground. Multiple summoning circles appeared around the trains forming a flock of Nevermore that quickly grew in size until they could shield the train from the coming avalanche.

Straining as the snow hit, the summoned Nevermore struggled to hold back the wall of snow, almost faltering under the pressure as they protected the train. Barely lasting a handful of seconds, the snow washed over the area and passed us by.

Releasing her summons, Winter fell to her knees as her Aura flickered and deactivated. Attempting to stand, her legs shook with exertion, before giving out, dropping her onto the damp snow covered floor.

Offering her my hand, I pulled her up and brought her arm around my shoulders. Pyrrha took the other side, helping to steady her.

I never intended for things to get this crazy. Part of what helps a person grow stronger was overcoming difficult challenges and while I knew Pyrrha and Winter would struggle against the Grimm, it’d ultimately make them all the stronger for it… Much like how I’d fought progressively stronger Grimm.

I never would have expected that we’d be facing a natural disaster… Albeit, one that was brought on by a Grimm. If I’d known what to expect, I probably would have pushed this mission back until after Pyrrha and Winter mastered Total Concentration Constant.

“Thank you,” Winter said, shivering.

Looking towards Pyrrha, I nodded. “Let’s get back on the train.” Without her Aura active, it would only be a matter of time before Winter became hypothermic and she couldn’t exactly use Total Concentration Breathing as she was right now.

Climbing on board, the webbing finished dissolving and the train began to move once more, slowly pushing its way through the snow. Looking for a spot that wasn’t entirely covered in broken glass of debris, I helped set Winter down next to one of the few windows that hadn’t been shattered.

Shrugging off my cloak, I laid it out on Winter, using it as a makeshift blanket. “I’ll be right back,” I muttered. “Pyrrha, you stay here and keep Winter safe.”

She’d eventually regenerate her Aura, but as for right now, she was fairly defenseless.

“Will do,” Pyrrha nodded resolutely while Winter struggled to protest against how she was being treated.

Finding the spot we’d been sitting covered in glass, I grabbed the backpacks that had been placed under the chairs, before lugging them back to where Pyrrha and Winter sat. Placing them down, I reached into mine and pulled out a large sleeping bag.

Months spent living in the woods with Maria had ingrained the need to bring warm bedding wherever I went.

“You… Really… Don’t need… To.” Winter shivered.

Unfolding the sleeping bag, I set it on the ground next to Winter. “Do you need help getting in or…”

“I can… At least do that much,” Winter replied. Shrugging off her wet coat, she glanced at me, before she began to unbutton her shirt.

Looking away, I turned my gaze towards Pyrrha. “You should probably get in as well,” I said. “And get some rest. You pushed yourself pretty far today.” She had been dangerously close to depleting her Aura not too long ago.

Pyrrha and Winter glanced at each other, before Pyrrha turned towards me. “What about you?”

“Someone has to stay awake and make sure nothing else will try to attack us,” I replied, tapping the sword at my side.

“But… Wouldn’t it be better if we both climbed into the sleeping bag?” Pyrrha asked. “You’re a lot warmer than I am and sharing heat is one of the best ways to stave off hypothermia.” She shot a pointed look towards Winter.

“I’m f… I’m f…” Winter sighed, relenting. “I… Might need a little help… warming up.”

Taking a breath, I pulled my shirt over my head and dropped it on the floor. There was still more than a few hours until we descended the mountains and put some distance between us and all of this snow.

Kicking my shoes off, I placed my sword next to the sleeping bag. Climbing into the sleeping bag with Winter, she hesitantly reached out and touched my arm, before shifting forward and pulling me into a tight embrace. Leaving as little room between us as possible in order to keep herself warm.

Feeling her cold body against mine, I wrapped my arms around her and looked up towards Pyrrha, before gesturing for her to join us.

“Ah, right,” Pyrrha hummed.

Looking away as she unzipped her armor, it didn’t take Pyrrha long before she climbed in behind Winter, helping share her body heat with the Specialist.

Feeling Winter’s shivers begin to lessen over time, it wouldn’t be long before she was able to regain control of her breathing aaand she was asleep. Crap. Her Aura would still regenerate, just… Slower than if she was awake.

Peeking her head over Winter’s, Pyrrha smiled softly. “Do you think Winter would be alright if I turned around? Her hair is tickling my face.”

“It should be alright,” I replied.

Humming, Pyrrha turned over, pushing her back against Winter’s. Reaching back, she grabbed my arm and cuddled it to her chest… Her completely bare chest that was only covered by the sleeping bag we both occupied.

“I think I’m going to take a quick nap. Wake me up in an hour, please,” Pyrrha requested, yawning softly.

“…Sure,” I said, a little distracted.

“Thanks,” Pyrrha hummed, dozing off.

I was incredibly glad that I’d learnt how to alter the flow of my blood early on. Between Winter pressed up against my chest and Pyrrha cuddling my arm, I’d be having a hard time without it.

With not much else to do, I closed my eyes and focused on my sense of hearing and of smell. Only one hour of this before I’d wake Pyrrha up… Winter however probably needed a little more sleep.