The Price of Knowledge, Part 2

"Time"

Walks through the forest were supposed to be quiet. Walks through the forest were supposed to be relaxing. Walks through the forest were supposed to be inspiring.

Ozpin's walk through the forest involved long periods of one-sided conversation, sparsely interrupted by the occasional Grimm attack.

As he drew his blade, stained black and red, from the chest of a Beowolf, and watched as the creature fell lifelessly to the ground he turned back and saw Glynda standing over the form of another Grimm, a wall of violet energy pressing the creature into the earth. As he watched, she lifted her crop for just a moment and as the Grimm began to rise her foot came down with merciless force, crushing the creature's head into the ground and shattering its bone-white mask against the earth. As the half-life of the Beowolf left its body, Ozpin nodded with respect, sheathing his blade and rubbing his eyes tiredly. Already, the adrenaline and caffeine he had fueled himself with since waking up was beginning to fade. It was difficult to tell the time of day exactly, but the height of the sun overhead suggested that it was shortly before midday.

"How much farther do you think it is to the temple?" Glynda asked and Ozpin shrugged. "Well, do you think any of the other students have made it yet?" Another shrug. "You're not really much for conversation, are you?" Surprise! A shrug. Glynda sighed.

"If we're going to be teammates, sooner or later you'll have to talk to m—" Her tirade was cut off as Ozpin clamped a hand over her mouth. She felt rage boil inside her and yanked his hand away when he held up his free hand, cane and all, to his lips. Realizing that he was shushing her, she forced herself to quell the anger and listen. There was nothing for a moment except the soft whistle of the wind through the leaves and branches overhead until… there! Distant pops and cracks, some rapid and others slow – like the sound of someone cracking their knuckles over the earth.

Gunfire.

"Seems that we're heading in the right direction," Ozpin said quietly, "and that seems to be where the action is." Glynda smirked.

"Fine by me. Besides, whoever's up ahead might need help. Come on!" Before Ozpin could protest she darted ahead, pressing just enough energy outward from her extended arm and riding crop to part the sea of underbrush ahead of her. Ozpin followed as closely as he could, sighing as he made his way through the violently snapping ferns and shrubs.

They covered ground more quickly now; their only delay coming when an Ursa lumbered into Glynda's path. The beast roared a challenge before Glynda increased the force of her push and rammed the creature, full force, into a thick tree trunk. She kept going, the Grimm slumping slowly before Ozpin unsheathed his blade on the run and ran the Ursa through. The creature died with a sigh and Ozpin continued running, though he didn't bother to return his weapon to its sheath. Judging by the increasing sounds of gunfire up ahead, something told him he'd soon need to use it again anyway.

The trees began to thin and both young Hunters found themselves standing at the edge. Far from the distant echoes that they had been deeper in the forest, the sounds of battle were clear as church bells now. In the clearing below, among the aged ruins of an ancient temple, a pair of young men were fighting for their lives.

One stood firmly planted, a rifle wedged against his shoulder and spitting fire into the crowd of encroaching Beowolves. These were no weak creatures – each was large and scarred, their black bodies crisscrossed with the scars of previous encounters. Their bone-white plates were numerous and adorned with dozens of spines. The creatures attacked in tandem, howling challenges and charging. Dust rounds cut many down mid-leap and those than remained fell to pieces moments later. Among the crowd of black shapes, an auburn blur could be seen. It darted from one Grimm to the next and everywhere it went the creatures died. Black and red stained the forest floor and a whistling could be heard as the combatant slew the monsters – coldly, methodically.

Even as Ozpin and Glynda watched in stunned silence though, the precariousness of the situation became apparent. Even as another Grimm fell to a barrage of automatic fire, the young man clutching the rifle fumbled as he reached for another magazine. The clip fell to the ground and he swore loudly before hastily raising his weapon to block the vicious downswing of a Beowolf that had made it through the killing zone.

Ozpin nearly leapt down the hill then and there to help, but as he watched the young man braced one arm and with the other, reached behind his waste and drew a sidearm from a holster. Ramming the weapon against the underside of the Grimm's chin, he fired off several shots and jumped back as the attacker collapsed, sans the top of its head. Still, that moment of pause in the near-constant barrage of death had been enough. The Grimm surged forward again and Glynda decided that no further time could be wasted. Leaping down the bluff, she used a dose of aura and an unsuspecting Beowolf to cushion her fall. Ozpin followed a moment later, already on the attack.

Pushing through the crowd of monsters still materializing out of the forest, Ozpin and Glynda cut a swath through the monsters. Glynda ducked under one outstretched arm and swung her crop with a great deal of force, throwing the beast back and onto Ozpin's outstretched sword arm. Withdrawing the blade and swinging both steel and sheath simultaneously, he swept the legs from under another Beowolf and sharply drove the point of the blade into its throat. The weapon stuck in the ground and as he struggled to draw it out he felt his aura flair.

Looking up, his eyes widened just in time to see a plain, unadorned arrow strike the beast between the eyes. It died quickly, falling hard and Ozpin yanked his blade free, looking for the source of the projectile. Instead, he found more waiting Grimm. Obliging their obvious death wish, he smacked one across the face and drove his sword through the calf of the other, before drawing both back and pivoting. The stunned beast soon found itself breathing through a new hole and the wounded one fell with a crash as the blunt cane-sheath shattered its mask.

A fragment flew into the air and was caught by a cushion of aura, which immediately redirected and sent the chunk of bone flying into the chest of another Grimm with such force as to bore straight through its torso. Their feet carried them toward the ruin and they soon found themselves gaining temporary respite from the onslaught. The Grimm still waited scant meters away. The air was rank with the smell of decay and blood and looking over his shoulder Ozpin found himself standing side-by-side with the two other students. He appraised them in a moment; one tall and pale, with pale skin, dark hair and broad shoulders. The other was slighter; leaner, with dark skin and chestnut hair. The shorter fellow clutched a simple but powerful recurve bow, arrow knocked. The other hastily slammed another magazine into his rifle and nodded.

"Better late than never, I suppose," he rumbled in a solid bass. He gazed down the sight of his weapon and trained it on the group of Grimm. The other guy with the bow chuckled.

"Plenty of fun to go around! Nice sword by the way; is that also a cane?" Glynda raised an eyebrow in alarm, astonished that he was making jokes at such a time as this. Ozpin gave a small smile and nodded before he locked eyes with the horde of dark creatures before them. At their front, a seething mass of hatred and danger. At their backs, a crumbling ruin and a wall. Not the best of situations, even if there was plenty of "fun" to be had. He considered their options even as the taller young man spoke again.

"They're blocking the path back through the woods – there's no way of knowing how many of them there might be in that forest." Glynda scoffed.

"No sense in going through the woods. The cliffs up there are clear; if we can get up we'll be fine." Now it was the other man's turn to snort derisively.

"And how exactly do you expect to get back up that cliff? Not sure about you, but I can't fly!" Further conversation was cut off as a Beowolf braver than most others made a lunge for Glynda, who was closest to the front of the line. She was just preparing to raise a barrier and defend herself when a storm of Dust rounds cut down the beast mid-leap. It dissolved in black and red ribbons on the ground as its fellows shifted warily. The man snapped his sights back to the crowd of Grimm, the barrel of the rifle waving back and forth menacingly. "Twenty-two rounds left. After that I'm black. We need to move."

Ozpin nodded. "Agreed. Watch my back." Turning his focus from the mass of Grimm, he heard a faint howl from the back of the pack and noticed several of the foes take a more aggressive stance. He quickly moved to several low, aging pedestals upon which pieces of metal glimmered faintly in the noonday light. Reaching out, he cupped one of the objects in his hand and realized that the relic he had been sent to retrieve was a gear – small and constructed of a dull, brass-like metal; not unlike one would find turning the inner workings of a clock.

Pocketing the item, he turned back to the group before noticing the dark-skinned young man duck and call out a hasty "heads-up!" A Beowolf soared through the air above his head and landed heavily on the ground. Seizing the opportunity, Ozpin dashed out and drove his blade through the back of the creature's skull. As it fell, the impact was felt throughout the crowd of monsters and with a cry from Glynda, they began their attack anew.

Bursts of automatic fire echoed as pairs and trios of rounds slammed into the heads and chests of the Grimm. Some dropped, but more simply kept coming. The dark-haired young man rose from his low crouch and pulled an arrow from his quiver, driving it through the throat of a Beowolf before turning and sprinting back to the relics, where he quickly grabbed one at random and crammed it into a pocket. Returning to the front, he quickly unstrung his bow and, with a twist, the weapon came into two separate parts – curved blades that Ozpin realized composed the arms of the bow. Adopting a defensive stance, he stood abreast with the rifleman and cut back and forth as the mass advanced. Glynda, for her part, was not faring any better. Every time a Grimm lunged she would deliver a crushing kick or a burst of auric force into the creature and sent it flying back into its peers. Ozpin aligned with her and used his cane to smack aside a lunging creature as it honed in on her unprotected flank. Nodding a brief thanks, Ozpin cried out.

"Glynda, clear a path! The rest of us, form up and watch every side. Head for the base of the cliff." Even as Glynda steeled herself for what she was about to do, the tall man cried out in return.

"We'll never make it! You're pushing us against the wall and letting them have us!" Ozpin just shot him a sidelong glance, his body working autonomously as he protected Glynda's concentrating form.

"What's your name?" he asked and the man shot Ozpin a sideways glance of his own, teeth grinding as the relentless pulsing of his rifle blended into the adrenaline of the fight.

"James," he said, almost too quietly to be heard over the din of gunfire. "James Ironwood. This is Lyon." The other young man nodded in between parries and Ozpin returned the gesture.

"Ozpin. Glynda, you ready?"

"As ready as I'm going to be," she muttered through gritted teeth. Ozpin gave her a nod and she raised her riding crop, twirling it in the air and painting a pattern of violet light in the shape of a crown. A moment later, everything around the symbol seemed to stretch and distort and the air bloomed into a burst of iridescent light before clearing and revealing an immense shield before them. A foolish Grimm charged at the shield and found itself thrown backward several dozen meters, Glynda staggering against the force of the impact. Ozpin was at her shoulder, steadying her, when she nodded and began to press forward.

The three young men formed around her and beat back the Grimm as the group made their arduous way through the crowd of Grimm to the bluff. Ozpin shoved his blade through the thigh of one Beowolf before Lyon temporarily broke from his position, swapping places in the formation with Ozpin and swinging one blade in an uppercut. Half of the wounded creature's jaw disappeared and the battle continued.

Ironwood's rifle finally ran dry and he swung the weapon out, a whirring of machinery accompanying the sight of the gun's stock folding outward and revealing the shining metal head of an axe. Gripping the body of the rifle, transforming itself into a handle before his very eyes, Ironwood swung the weapon around and cleaved through the torsos of two creatures in a single swing. Burying the blade between the collarbone of another Beowolf, Ironwood drew his sidearm and fired a trio of shots into the chest of a Grimm attempting to lunge past him and get to Glynda.

Soon enough they found themselves exactly where Ironwood had feared. Backs against the wall, Glynda dropped her barrier and fell to her knees as the remaining three pushed back against the growing crowd of Grimm. Every slash or stab that Ozpin put out was answered by another monster taking the dead ones place. Eventually the ammunition in Ironwood's pistol ran dry as well and his blade was on the verge of running dull. Lyon continued to slash at the seething mass, blood and corruption soaking and staining all three young men.

Ozpin's mind raced as he pushed himself back from the mass for just a moment, the gap swelling with the weight of the attacking force as he took several deep breaths. Sheathing his blade, Glynda looked at him as though he was mad. Maybe I am, he thought as he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, time flowed like molasses over cold stone.

James' and Lyon's arms and weapons swung in slow motion as they hacked at the Grimm, a movement that would normally take a moment dragging on for a seemingly infinite time. Snarls of anger were all-but frozen on the Beowolves masked faces and as Ozpin looked down at his own hands, the sight of his own limbs moving at normal speed seemed utterly alien.

This was only his second time using his semblance, and already he could feel the weight of the action bearing down on him. His arms felt as though his bones were made of lead, every step weighing him down despite his normal speed of movement. His vision swam and he forced himself to raise his hand. His cane seemed to weigh a hundred times as much as usual, and as he held the weapon with the tip of its blade pointed at the ground, he prayed that what he was about to do worked. With fatigue filling his body, he squeezed the grip-trigger on the side of the cane and winced as the end exploded. A red flair soared into the air, screaming and casting a light on the faces of all nearby before continuing its upward acceleration at full speed. As Ozpin watched the flare arc up and burst high in the air, he smiled.

Here's to hoping, he thought. Then the ground rushed up to meet him.

Ironwood watched Ozpin crumple and sighed. Guess that's it, then. Why do I even bother placing my trust in people anymore? Cai whirred as it cut the air, removing a Beowolf's head before Ironwood pivoted on the ball of his foot, his father's lessons filling his head, and jammed the axehead into the chest of another Grimm, the creature roaring a pain-filled challenge. He reached for Laos before realizing that the sidearm had no more ammunition to spend. He sighed and pulled the axe out, spinning and slamming the blunt side of the stock into the creature's jaw and sending it flying backward.

It was the last solid hit he would get in; Lyon was attacked from three sides at once and was forced backward before a Beowolf's swipe set his aura ablaze and threw him to the ground. James swore loudly and moved to help his partner before another of the beasts leapt atop him. He hit the ground like a sack of bricks, the weight of the Grimm pressing down atop him. He furiously held onto and pushed up with Cai, putting whatever barrier between himself and the slavering jaws of the Beowolf he could. He felt the corruptive bulk bearing down on him, cursed jaws and foul breath inches from his face. He couldn't rise. He couldn't fight. He could only wait and die.

Guess you were wrong, Dad. Sorry. And as he looked up at the infernal black maw of the beast that would be his demise, he couldn't help but muse. Funny. It's tongue almost looks like the tip of a sword.

Suddenly the weight of the Grimm was lifted off him, and standing silhouetted by the noonday sun was his savior. Little more than a fuzzy image, his eyes still made out the shape of tall young woman in black and red, drawing a blood-drenched sword from the corpse of the Beowolf that had nearly ended Ironwood.

She turned and, alongside another red-black blur, went to work on the Grimm. Ironwood would have cried if he'd had the strength. The figures moved in tandem, a long-blade and a wicked scythe moving in crimson harmony. Grimm dissolved and wheeled away, screaming out in rage and agony. The taller of the two figures, clutching the two meter-long scythe, wheeled and swung the weapon in a wide arc, decapitating a Beowolf and leaping backward, pivoting and slicing off the arms of another. The smaller figure darted forward and slashed back and forth with its blade in rapid strokes, another Grimm brought to its knees and brutally eviscerated before falling to the grassy earth.

He heard a noise and turned just in time to see another pair of figures drop from the cliffs above, wrap their arms around Ozpin and Glynda's (in her case, violently protesting) forms. They disappeared back up the rock face and James gave a weak smile as his adrenaline rush died down. The figures dropped back down and rushed forward to James and Lyon. He held up a hand for a moment, grabbed Cai and Laos from where they had fallen, before nodding. The figure - a man - grabbed James firmly and leapt upward.

The cliff faced rushed by and Ironwood felt the strength of the other fellow as his bulk was hefted upward. Moments later, he felt his feet alight on soft grass and he crumpled to his knees, breathing heavily. In the clearing down below, the other two newcomers were retreating back toward the cliff as the Grimm horde – substantially thinned – pressed forward again.

The two cut down a few more before turning and leaping nimbly up the cliffs, a feat that Ironwood, Lyon, Ozpin and Glynda could have easily managed if they'd had the strength and aura built up. In their states though, the four newcomers were miracle workers. Ironwood propped himself up, breathing steadying as the new four came together. The tall man clapped the black-haired young woman on the shoulder, while the scythe-wielder leaned on his weapon and gave a weak smile to a shorter girl with shoulder-length chestnut hair. Ozpin was stirring now, Lyon was grinning like an idiot and Glynda was heaving onto the ground, stress and adrenaline overtaking her like a tidal wave.

The apparent head of the new group – a blond man who towered even over James – stepped forward, offering a hand up. James took it and stood, facing his savior. The blond man smiled jovially.

"You alright? It was pretty rough down there." James nodded.

"We got lucky. If you hadn't shown up… well, thank you." The other guy shrugged.

"We wouldn't have even known that you needed help if we hadn't seen your flair." He must have seen the puzzlement on James' face, because he gestured upward into the sky where a bright red flair was dying as it fell slowly back toward the earth. James' eyes widened. When did…? He looked over and saw Ozpin, helping Glynda to her feet but apparently the only member of the original group not mesmerized by the flair. James made a mental note and walked over to where the group – now eight in number – had gathered. "Suppose now's as good a time as ever for introductions," the tall blond student said, still smiling despite the ragged appearance of his recent rescuees.

Glynda looked at him like he was mad; the howling of the Beowolves was not so distant and she brushed away a fleck of spittle from her recent upheaval. He continued. "I'm Taiyang, this is Raven," he said, gesturing to the red-clad young woman.

The girl next to the scythe wielder smiled and brushed a bang out of her face, resting her hands on her hips and pinning a long white cloak in place. "I'm Summer, this is Qrow," indicating herself and the other teen.

Ozpin was standing now and took several deep breaths. God, he looks like death, James thought. The well-dressed student's outfit was torn and stained, bags had formed under his eyes and his already unruly hair was a mess. He leaned on his cane, supporting himself with it as he flashed a weak smile.

"I'm Ozpin. This is Glynda, James and Lyon," he said, indicating each of them in turn. "You saw my flare?" His flair? James thought. When did he have time to shoot off a flare? Taiyang nodded though before Qrow cleared his throat, speaking for the first time.

"Hate to rain on everyone's parade, but we've all got our relics. What's keeping us here?" Taiyang nodded and everyone else in the group offered their assent as well.

"I've certainly had enough of this forest to last a lifetime," Lyon said, taking his dual blades and snapping them back together, stringing the weapon and returning it to bow-form. As though answering some unheard summons, a howl emanated from the forest several hundred meters away and the first of the enraged Beowolves appeared at the treeline. "Oh yeah," Lyon said. "Definitely time to go."

AN - Holy shit that took a while. But that was Chapter two of "of my fucking God this series is going to be the death of me." Seriously, I apologize for taking so long to get this out; life has been kicking my ass. In addition to taking care of my baby cousin while her parents are out of town, I finally got my shit together and proposed to my girlfriend of on-and-off 10 years. No more late-night whoremongering for me, boys and girls. Wistful sigh.

In all seriousness though, I am going to tentatively promise not to take 3 weeks to release the next chapter. My good friend Alison is helping me as my editor and co-author on another story, and I actually have some free time coming up as I get to send my students home on Spring Break.

Until then, please drop me a line on what you think of the story so far. I tried to do the characters justice even though we know so little about them, and I hope I didn't fuck it up too monumentally. Anyway, leave a review and let me know what you thought! Thanks for reading!