Chapter 26

Crumbs off the Table

'Man was born from dust, and it is to dust he shall someday return. We are the children of light and the Grimm harbingers of darkness. Born from shadows it is the shadows we will return the Grimm never to threaten our light again...'

No one on Remnant knew the true physiology of Grimm. They had no blood nor did they have internal organs. They oozed a tar like substance but it's identity was unknown and added nothing significant to study. They did not sleep nor did they require food or drink for sustenance. The Grimm ignored animals except when fighting over territory, but humans they actively hunted.

Once dead their bodies disintegrated too rapidly to discover any secrets they may hide, and captured Grimm had the nasty habit of mysteriously disintegrating spontaneously. No one had ever seen a Grimm born as it seemed as though they were bred from shadows. One thing was for sure though, even without internal organs and blood, Yang could break their bones and kill them with a well-placed punch.

"And stay down!" cried the fiery blonde as the Ursa Major finally fell.

The fire in her fists and hair extinguished and she leaned over to catch her breath and wipe the sweat from her brow. She caught her partner's eye who was doing the same. Her yellow pack rested against Blake's foot as she knelt in the shadow of a car. The faunus was too proud to admit it, but the extra pack's weight was slowing her down and she needed a rest.

"Thirty-seven," Yang gloated between deep breaths.

Blake grinned wearily. "Sixty-four."

Her partner cursed. "Yeah well, I'm using my fists so mine count double."

"Just admit that clearing the city in a single day is impossible."

She shook her head. "I'm just getting warmed up."

"Give it a rest, Yang," Weiss complained. "We've been at it for hours and we're all exhausted. And nobody cares about your kill count."

The heiress was sitting in the shade pouring water over her wrists to cool off. The sky promised rain but all it gave was a dreary overcast and humidity, which was hell on all the huntresses' hair.

"You're just jealous that I'm winning."

"No, not particularly. I'll have you know I'm at fifty-two." Yang gritted her teeth as Weiss gave her a devilish grin. "And I believe my partner is winning."

All eyes turned to the caped-girl who was guzzling down water from a red water bottle not caring if most of it was dripping down her chin.

"What's your kill count up to, Rubes?" her sister asked tentatively.

Ruby swallowed a mouthful of water and shrugged. "I lost count at a hundred-twenty."

Weiss cheered and hugged her partner who spit water out and began choking. Yang and Blake meanwhile let out simultaneous curses and groans.

"Looks like we get first baths and showers when we get back to Beacon," Weiss laughed wickedly. "I sure hope there's enough hot water for the two of you."

"Shut up," Yang growled as the pipsqueak heiress began corgi-talking.

"I told you this was a stupid bet." Blake had tried to talk sense into her about betting against Ruby Rose in a Grimm slaying contest, but as usual her partner hadn't listened and now they were both going to pay the price.

"Which you also agreed to," Weiss pointed out, and Blake gave the mind reader a cold stare.

"It's not over yet." Yang stood up and grabbed her partner by the arm.

"Hey!"

"Come on, Blake. There is no way in hell I'm bathing with cold water when we get home."

"Dibs on shower first, long soak in the bathtub second!" She quickly grabbed her partner's pack before being violently dragged away, and while Weiss fantasized about being clean again Ruby untied her left boot.

"You alright?" Weiss asked, eyeing the way she rubbed her foot.

She paused. "Just a rock in my shoe."

Her partner didn't see anything fall out. "It's not the burns or glass again is it?"

Ruby massaged the area where her foot had been irritated and grimaced. "Nope, I'm fine." She put the shoe back on and slung Crescent Rose over her left shoulder.

"And your right shoulder is hurting again," Weiss noted unsurprised.

"I'm ambidextrous, Weiss. Maybe I just feel like being left handed for the day."

The heiress rolled her eyes at her partner's attempt at being sarcastic. Somehow she was better at being rude when she wasn't trying.

"Maybe you should take a rest."

"I'll be fine," she promised. "Let's get back to work before Yang and Blake catch up."

Weiss hesitated but reluctantly nodded. She wanted her partner safe, but she also really, really wanted hot water when they returned. Of course Ruby would get honorary dibs on either shower stall or bathtub until it was time for them to trade off, but she was sure with the right bribe she'd get to shower everything off first then relax in the tub for an hour or so. Just like after combat class, if someone didn't jump at the chance of using the vacant shower or tub in their adjacent washroom, someone else would gladly take their spot and use up all the hot water as well. Already Weiss was smiling longingly just thinking about it, and nothing was going to stand in her way...

"Alright fine," she conceded. "I'll go check the alleyway."

"Okay, I gonna around here a little longer." Ruby shrugged off her red pack making Weiss raise her brow.

'I wonder if that's code for 'I need to rest for a minute'?'

The partners split up but made sure they were never too far from each other. If one heard the other in trouble they'd be by their side in seconds with a cloud of roses or a haste glyph.

Upon entering the alley, Weiss suddenly wished she hadn't. A rat about the size of Zwei scurried past her foot nearly making her scream, and there seemed to be some sort of green liquid dripping from a gutter. The alley was long and cast jagged shadows due to decay, just like the rest of the city. She felt very much alone at that moment, as well as vulnerable. It felt as though a horrible monster could be creeping up on her any moment...

"Sup, Weiss!?"

"EEEEPPPP!" The heiress drew her rapier but a bare hand grabbed the blade.

"Chill, it's just me." Yang grinned innocently.

"Don't do that!" Weiss swatted her away. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

The blonde chuckled and dodged a fist as well as a swipe from Myrtenaster. "Oh come on, Weiss, give me a break," she begged. "Ruby's immune to my sneak attacks after all these years and Blake can hear me coming a mile away. You're the only one left."

"Go tell Ruby you ate all her cookies, or Blake that you let your sister read one of the books hidden under her bed. That'll scare them."

"Oh that's mean...I like it!" She grinned. "And I don't have to worry about scaring Blake-y to death. She's got nine lives remember?"

The blonde gave a thumbs up while Weiss' eyes narrowed. "Get it? Because she's a cat faunus." Yang poked her fingers together as if connecting the dots for her.

"I get it," she snapped. "It just wasn't funny."

"That was A-list material."

"You wish."

"So what are you doing over here?" Yang looked around at the rat droppings and something that looked vaguely like poison ivy.

"Hunting Grimm."

"And you're doing it right where Blake and I are hunting. You're not trying to steal our kills are you?" She regarded the heiress suspiciously, and Weiss looked over her shoulder to make sure her partner wasn't around and kept her voice low.

"If you must know I wanted to check my scroll to see if Ruby's alright."

"Did something happen in the like two minutes we were away?"

"No. Well, maybe..." She bit her lip. "Ruby's been running around all day using her semblance, and every time I look at my scroll her aura's jumped. Sometimes in the middle of a fight she's right where ours are at and other times like when she's resting she's below fifty percent. I can't figure it out, and this just being day one of the mission has me worried."

Yang frowned at this revelation and opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted.

"She's been acting weird all day, and I know for a fact she's more injured than she's letting on."

"Rubes is just tense," Yang soothed. "We all are. This is her first time leading a mission and she's had a rough week. Let's cut her a little slack shall we?"

The heiress' muscles relaxed and reluctantly she nodded.

"I know she just got out of the hospital yesterday, and I'm worried too, but we're just gonna have to trust her." Yang frowned and looked as though she had just swallowed something bitter. "Don't forget, Ruby was able to take you on in a match practically one handed the other day."

"True," she admitted looking down. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

Yang tenderly grabbed her shoulder. "No, you're being responsible and a good friend, and I really appreciate it. Ruby could use the adult supervision."

Weiss snorted in a rather unladylike manner. "That's putting it mildly. This morning she was so excited to go on the mission that she forgot she still had her sleep mask on and thought she had gone blind. I physically had to tackle her to the ground and remove it."

The blonde chuckled at her sister's obliviousness. "Ruby's our leader and we should trust her. She can take care of herself, but-" Yang paused and grinned devilishly, "but that doesn't mean we still shouldn't check just in case."

Her grin turned infectious and she rolled up her sleeve. "Good point." After a couple of button presses and reading the screen she frowned. "Right now everything seems to be alright, but-"

*crunch*

The sound of glass breaking to the side of them caused the pair to raise their weapons.

"What was that?" Weiss whispered.

"Don't know," Yang whispered back. "You go check it out."

"Me? Why me?" she whined.

"Because you're the one with the sword remember?"

"Oh, right..." She stared down at Myrtenaster as though it had somehow betrayed her.

It took Yang pushing her for Weiss to get a move on. Cautiously, the heiress stalked the window where they'd heard the sound and raised her rapier.

'Please don't be a rat, please don't be a rat,' she prayed, pleaded, begged, and cursed.

A pair of red eyes hung in the darkness and she let out a breath. She had never been so happy to see a Grimm wishing to tear her head off.

"Got you."

BBBBROOOOOOAAAARRRRR!

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The heiress screamed in terror as the red eyes tore through the air. Her rapier erupted in flames engulfing everything around her, and didn't stop until she had spent the entire dust crystal in one go.

The blonde clapped slowly while stood Weiss frozen in fear

"Smooth..." She stomped out a small flame at her feet and patted herself down.

Weiss held her hand over her chest gasping for breath as her entire body convulsed. Beads of sweat rolled down her pale face and she dropped to her knees with her eyes closed.

"What was that thing!?"

"That used to be a Nevermore," Yang replied, holding her nose as she stepped closer. "Now it's barbecue..."

"I know a Nevermore when I see one," she hissed. "I mean it's roar. Since when can they do that?"

Yang raised a brow wondering if she was joking or not, and Weiss hid her face as her heart hammering against her chest threatened to leap out.

"What's going on?" Ruby demanded, suddenly appearing from a cloud of rose petals with a slight limp. Seconds later Blake stood beside her pointing her pistol in the dirty windows ready to shoot that anything moved, and they were both startled when Yang banged her fist against a dumpster laughing.

"Nothing. The princess got scared by an itsy-bitsy Nevermore. Apparently she's never heard one roar before."

"It was huge!"

"It was the size of a chicken." While Yang reveled in the heiress' discomfort, Ruby sensed how shaken her partner was and knelt down beside her.

"You've really never heard a Nevermore's roar before?" she asked. Nevermores were one of the most common types of Grimm in every kingdom. At some point every child had been terrorized least once in their life by the small flying creatures.

Weiss shook her head in shame. "The only time I ever got close to Grimm before Beacon was with my tutors, and we only worked with adolescent Beowolves. Initiation was the first time I was exposed to Grimm in the wild. Also, I kind of expect a giant Nevermore to roar, not a little one."

This was news to Yang and Blake but Ruby wasn't at all surprised. She had seen how stiff Weiss had been when they were surrounded by Beowolves in the Emerald forest, and the Grimm in Professor Port's class. The heiress unlike them was still getting used to the nightmares.

"It's okay, Weiss. There's nothing to be ashamed of. To be honest Nevermores scare me too, and I think we're all still a little scared."

Her teammates gave blank stares and Ruby tilted her head toward the girl on the ground.

"Oh," Yang said, realizing what her sister was trying to say. "Yeah, Nevermores suck."

The leader turned to Blake whose smile fell. "Yeah," she deadpanned. "They suck..."

Ruby shook her head disproving of their poor act but grinned anyway. Weiss smiled appreciative that her partner didn't think she was a coward or hold her upbringing against her.

"Thanks," she said, wiping her eyes and accepting the hand that was offered.

"No problem."

"What's all of the commotion about?!" Everyone turned as Professor Oobleck yelled from the other end of the alley. "I have spotted some Grimm over here! They look absolutely dreadful!" He waved to his right. "It also would appear they don't like loud noises!"

The team rolled their eyes and took deep breaths. Their chaperon had a rather uncanny ability to find Grimm and alert them to their presence.

"What are we standing around here for?" Weiss said, pulling herself back together. "Ruby, we have a bet to win."

"That's more like it," Yang agreed, cracking her knuckles. "Getting drunk in the tub here I come!"

The team separated to dispatch the Grimm as quickly as possible before reinforcements could arrive. Oobleck began following them more closely afterward and seemed to single out the blonde, watching her every move as she took down a small Beowolf pack with nothing but her fists. Once the last one fell and her shoulders slumped he confronted her.

"May I ask you a personal question, miss Xiao Long?"

Yang opened her yellow water bottle with her teeth and nodded. "Go for it."

"Would it be too bold of me asking why you decided to join Beacon Academy, or why you decided to become a huntress in the first place?"

She paused looking confused as though she didn't understand the question. "I just really want to be a huntress that's all."

"And why do you wish to become a warrior whose task is to kill soulless beasts and save innocent lives?"

"I guess because I want an adventure." She took a deep breath and lifted her hands to the city around her. "I live for places like this. I want to wake up everyday having no idea where I'm going or what I'll be doing tomorrow. Life's too short, and I plan on seeing everything there is to see, and experiencing everything in life that's worth experiencing before I'm done."

"So if you helped a few people on your quest for adventure you'd call it a success?"

Yang played with her hair absently. "I've never really thought about it, but yeah I guess so. It's like a win, win. Something wrong with that?"

"No, nothing, miss Xiao Long. I was just curious is all. I hope you're given the opportunity to save many lives on your quest for adventure."

"Um, thanks. I think?"

Oobleck let her be after that, and she couldn't help but think she'd said something wrong. She could've lied and given a more noble answer, but that wasn't who she was. Besides, he probably already knew the answer already, or at least thought he did. Most people thought that just by looking at her.

She heard the professor's voice again not far away, this time directed as Weiss who had just finished a Beowolf. She was kneeling, catching her breath over the beast while Yang crawled behind a rusted car to hear what they were saying.

"Hunting monsters is what you do, miss Schnee, not why you do it. Why would the heiress to the largest dust mining company choose to become a huntress instead of having a comfy job at Atlas? I doubt it has little to do with money or fame. You seem to have plenty of both already."

The heiress pulled her rapier out of the Beowolf's chest and watched it disappear into nothingness.

"I am a Schnee," she said dutifully. "I have a name and a legacy to uphold. That is all the reason I need."

"That's...interesting," Oobleck managed when he realized that was all she was going to say. He coughed before walking away not giving her a second glance. It seemed perhaps he was just as impressed with her answer as he was with Yang's.

Weiss took a deep breath and looked down at her rapier clearly troubled.

"Well that sounded well-rehearsed," Yang noted as she came out of hiding. "How long did your dad have you practice that in the mirror before coming to Beacon?"

Her eyes narrowed but she didn't answer. "You shouldn't eavesdrop. It's rude."

"Yeah whatever," Yang said absently as she watched Oobleck. "Come on. He's going over to Blake, and I wanna hear this."

Weiss scoffed and turned away as the blonde ran off, but glanced back just before she got out of earshot. "Wait for me!"

They crept to the side of a building where a flock of small Nevermore were attempting to intimidate the faunus with their roars, but unfortunately for them she wasn't fazed by their loud barks. She simply pulled the ribbon of her katana and in seconds the flying Grimm had been sliced into pieces.

"What about you, miss Belladonna?" the professor asked. "You seem to walk with a purpose to your life. Why did you decide to become a huntress?"

She barely needed a moment to think. "There's too much injustice in the world. I want to live in a world without discrimination and without hatred."

"Very noble of you. How do you suppose on making this a reality? You're not the first to have those impressive ideals you know?"

"I...I...Umm…"she stuttered, looking down at her feet. After a moment she bit her cheek, unable to tell if he was being patronizing or not, but knowing he meant another faunus. "I don't know yet."

Oobleck nodded. "I see. Well, when you ever work it out do tell me. I'd like to live in that world too someday."

Before Blake could say another word, he turned his back and walked toward the sound of a scythe slicing through Grimm.

"Either of you need something?" Blake directed to where Yang and Weiss were hiding.

Yang poked her head around the corner and grinned. "I take it you heard us?"

She glared at the pair before sheathing her weapons. "You breathe through your mouth and Weiss clicks every time she takes a step in those heels. Plus you both smell like hot and sweaty hyenas..."

Before the two could argue Blake held up her hand and began walking away. "Come on. Let's go see what Ruby has to say."

Weiss and Yang stared at each other.

"Wait for us!" they cried, doing their best to keep up while breathing through their noses and walking on the balls of their feet.

(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. I thought it would be interesting if Weiss didn't have the greatest understanding of Grimm unlike the rest of her team. Seeing her scared made me laugh plus no matter how cowardly she may appear having a flaming rapier kind of off sets that. I also liked the idea of the bet. Seemed like something Yang would do. Sure hope Ruby's alright. Anyway, thank you for reading and all of the support you all have given me. All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who has made this story possible. God bless