Chapter 27

Ruby and Goliath

Professor Oobleck stood aside as the caped-girl sliced a juvenile Beowolf in half with ease, during which time her teammates crouched behind a nearby barricade waiting for the professor's question and what their leader's response would be.

"It's getting rather late," he remarked, the sun setting in the distance. "What do you say we make camp up in that hotel or apartment complex just up ahead? We want to be as high off the ground as possible before nightfall."

"Right," Ruby agreed, watching the Beowolf disappear with an impassive face. "I'll find my team and-"

"That will not be necessary." Oobleck shook his head. "Your teammates are right behind us..."

The girls froze, and Yang and Weiss turned to the faunus whose mouth was hanging open.

"Guess you're not as stealthy as you thought," Weiss noted.

"Busted," Yang muttered, peeking around the barricade and waving enthusiastically. "Oh, there you are. We were looking all over for you."

Blake and Weiss poked their heads out grinning and with their faces a bright shade of scarlet.

"Um, why were you all hiding behind that barricade?" Ruby raised a suspicious eyebrow at the three.

"We were uh... Weiss?"

"Just making sure it was still standing."

Blake nodded. "Yep, they sure don't make them like they used to."

Yang gave the barricade a slap perhaps a little too forcefully and it collapsed with an echoing thud, causing everyone to flinch and look around to make sure it hadn't alerted any nearby Grimm. Everyone gave the blonde a cold stare and she shrugged.

"Oops."

"No matter," Oobleck interrupted. "Night is fast approaching and soon so will the Grimm. You three go to the top floor of the apartment building and set up camp killing all the beasts you see. Your leader and I will scout the perimeter and join you shortly."

"But-" Yang hesitated, feeling uneasy about leaving her sister's side in an infested city, but also knew that there was no safer place than at the side of a huntsman no matter how strange or quirky he might be. "Just hurry back. Okay?"

Oobleck smiled and nodded. "Have no fear, miss Xiao Long. Your sister shall return me in one piece."

The three girls reluctantly turned toward the building that at one time may have been the most luxurious housing overlooking the city, but was now falling apart and rotting, looking almost like a festering wound that had yet to scab over.

Yang glanced over her shoulder checking on her sister now that she was no longer in her line of sight, and beside her Blake patted her on the shoulder. "She'll be alright without us."

"You should be worrying about us," Weiss scolded. "Ruby will be with Oobleck while we're clearing that disgusting dump of Grimm. I doubt it even has a working elevator, which means we'll have to clear the entire building while climbing what I count to be over thirty flights of stairs with heavy backpacks and-"

The heiress continued to complain but the duo simply ignored her, and silence fell just before they entered the building as they each glanced over their shoulder for a final time.

Oobleck watched the trio disappear from eyesight and took a sip from his thermos. In a nearby clearing where the city and forest met, dark figures passed through the trees unhindered. A lesson in perspective seemed in order, and he pointed.

"Let's take a quick look at that clearing, miss Rose."

Ruby nodded dutifully and followed the professor, walking or sometimes climbing down a rocky path that might've been a street a century ago. The closer they got to the field however the more she sensed something wasn't right. She could feel the ground trembling, and taking a quick peek through her rifle's scope caused her mouth to fall open.

"Wh-what are th-those, Professor?" she stuttered, seeing five ivory giants towering over the treetops and walking in formation.

"Those, Ruby, are real creatures of Grimm, not just fledgling Beowolves or Ursas."

"They're enormous."

"They're called Goliaths, and they're considered Alphas even in their adolescent stages." He raised his binoculars and furrowed his brow. "From the look of them I'd say that they're around three hundred to four hundred years old."

"How can you tell just by looking?"

"If you've been paying attention in Professor Port's ecology class the I'm sure you already know," the professor chided. "After all, he does enjoy retelling the story of how he once killed a Goliath in his youth. He even had a replica made as a trophy.

Ruby lowered her scope momentarily and grinned sheepishly for being treated like a child. "Sorry. It's the size of the Grimm and the amount of armor."

Oobleck nodded. "There's no real way to tell the actual age of a Grimm of course, but the size of the beast and armor as you say are good indicators, and from the tusks of the lead Goliath I'd say he's very old. Perhaps even half a millennium..."

To Ruby they looked like giant elephants. She had never seen one in person, but Yang had brought her home pictures from her time in Vacuo. Those seemed like dwarfs in comparison however. Even the Nevermore and Deathstalker's from initiation were tiny compared to even the smallest Goliath in the back.

"D-do we kill them?" She shifted her weight and regarded her weapon with uncertainty.

*hic*

She covered her mouth and Oobleck let out a nervous chuckle. "No, that would not be a wise idea. I doubt your rifle as impressive as it may be could leave so much as a scratch. Those aren't just mindless Grimm, Ruby. They have centuries worth of experience and are more intelligent than you could ever imagine. There's a reason why they've survived so long, and without a doubt have killed their fair share of huntsmen in that time."

Ruby raised her scope again but let out a startled cry and nearly dropped her rifle when one of the beasts looked directly at her.

"Don't worry." He grabbed her, steadying her and making sure she didn't tumble down the ledge they were standing on. "We're hidden, but they also know we're here. They'll leave us alone as long as we keep our distance. If they attack and kill us, which would happen for the record, they know from experience only more huntsmen will come. Instead, they'll continue circling the city and wait."

"W-wait f-for what?"

"For us to bleed," he answered darkly. "The Goliaths and other Alphas waited until the city was weakened before attacking, and once they joined the battle all hope was lost. They probably waited centuries for an opportunity and hundreds of thousands lost their lives. And they'll patiently wait twice that long to make sure the rest of Vale falls. They say we're at a time of peace, and yet we're slowly losing our footholds in the kingdom..."

Ruby felt incredibly small just then. Humans lived such short life spans and huntsmen even shorter, but their enemies only grew stronger and wiser. Even after everything she'd seen, finally she had a true appreciation of who she was at war with. Grimm were evil, plain and simple.

"Why doesn't the huntsmen just take them out? Or the military?"

"Because many lives would be lost. It would take dozens of huntsmen and airships to even stand a chance, and by then the entire region would be in an uproar. Besides, Goliaths aren't the only ancient nightmares in Vale. There are others, and far worse still to be discovered..."

Ruby listened to his every word but kept a watchful eye on the herd unable to believe such creatures were so close to the City of Vale. She had seen Beowolves raze her village and butcher its inhabitants first hand, and now she was standing in the lost city where countless others had also perished. A chill ran down her spine.

"Not the City of Vale..." she whispered. "Never..."

Oobleck lowered his binoculars and took a moment to gather his thoughts. What he had to say was important. "Have I ever told the story of why I wanted to become a huntsman to the class?"

Ruby shook her head. It was possible he had but she also had a habit of tuning her professors out. She kept that to herself of course.

"It's not because I was overwhelmingly competent with a weapon or have a large aura supply. Quite the opposite actually. To be honest I only passed initiation because I had a very talented and mischievous friend." He let out a mischievous chuckle causing Ruby's eyebrows to rise. "Killing Grimm may have been my duty, but it was never my passion."

"Then what was? And who was your friend?"

"Teaching!" He smiled. "That is my passion. I want to learn everything I can about the beasts to better prepare students like yourself on how to deal with them. Grimm never forget but we humans do. Every generation falls into the same traps, and if you do not learn from history you are doomed to repeat it."

"Why are you telling me this?"

He let out a long sigh. 'Because you're Summer's daughter...'

"Because one day you are going to make an excellent huntress, Ruby. You understand the Grimm better than most your age and have the skills necessary to make a difference. I did not. I barely got accepted into Beacon, let alone finished my first and only tour. I want to live in a world where we are not doomed to repeat history, and I believe it's going to take huntsmen and huntresses like yourself to make that a reality."

He spread his arms as if to show Ruby the mass scale of the city for the first time. This was not the first city to fall, and it wouldn't be the last. She looked around and tried not to see Patchwork so as not to be overwhelmed, and instead focused on the mission. "Should we finish the perimeter sweep?"

"Yes," Oobleck coughed. "Your team will be waiting for you."

Ruby nodded and took off thankful to get back to her job and to kill whatever Grimm may still be lurking around. She had a new perspective on the world however. What she and her team were doing was merely brushing crumbs off a table. Beowolves were deadly as were Ursas and Nevermores, but the Goliaths were a different kind of Grimm. And what did he mean about other ancient Grimm?

Oobleck was right. Ruby did understand Grimm better than most, and now she knew them even better. She also knew why she was there.

'I just want to make the world a better place, and maybe someday live in a world where no one ever loses someone they love,' she thought privately. 'Where no little girl loses her mom ever again...'

With the scouting mission over the caped-girl and professor ascended the apartment complex. Ruby knew her team had cleared the high rise of Grimm, but she also couldn't help aiming her rifle at shadows. She wasn't claustrophobic in the slightest, but Crescent Rose on the other hand was. A six foot long scythe was too cumbersome in a narrow hallway, and her sniper rifle wasn't much better.

Despite her team getting high marks in breaching and clearing, in practice she was next to useless. Blake always took point because of her night vision, superior senses, reflexes, and stealth, and Yang always second there to destroy anything that got in their way. Ruby was always in the middle trying to stay out of her team's way while Weiss brought up the rear in case anything tried to flank them.

Ruby hated breaching and clearing practice...

The pair followed arrows left behind by her teammates as many staircases had collapsed over the years and created a maze to the top. Claw marks filled the halls and occasionally red stains could be seen on walls and on the floor, and Ruby did her best to pretend they were just from spilled juice.

After what felt like an eternity however Ruby nearly cried when she finally made it up the last flight of stairs.

"Hey guys." She dropped her pack exhausted. "We're back."

Her sister and Blake stood inside what might have been a living room where a fire had been built and they were unpacking.

Yang stopped unrolling her sleeping bag and ran up to give her a hug. "You're back," she breathed, pulling her closer to the point she couldn't breath.

"You're not going to do that every time are you?" Ruby whined.

"We'll see," was all she said before letting her younger sister go.

"How was breaching and clearing?" Oobleck asked interrupting the moment. "I expected it to take longer."

Yang clasped Blake on the shoulder who turned away shyly. "She had this place cleared in five minutes," her partner bragged.

Blake rolled her eyes but hid a minuscule grin. "Any faunus could do the same," she said modestly. "Grimm smell like death and shadows, and besides Nevermores I didn't smell any."

Oobleck turned his head to the side studying the girl curiously. "And pray tell what does a shadow smell like?"

She shrugged uncomfortably. "T-they don't, but it's the best description of what Grimm smell like."

The professor shook his head. "You're describing color to a blind man I'm afraid." He laughed before getting serious again. "What about entrances? How secure are we?"

"There are two stairways partially collapsed." Blake pointed. "The only entrance is the way you came but Yang's about to take care of that."

Her partner cracked her knuckles and left the room to work on barricading the path with whatever furniture she could find.

"The floor wasn't finished when the city fell," Oobleck remarked, seeing obvious signs of construction.

"Speaking of which-" Ruby interrupted, "is this our room for tonight?"

She looked around what she supposed could be considered the 'penthouse suite' overlooking the city. If it hadn't been so desolate the view would have been beautiful. The mounting silhouetted in the distance was breath taking, and being able to see the stars again like on Patch made her smile, but the lack of lights down below just felt wrong.

"Unfortunately yes," Weiss complained as she walked in from another room. "It doesn't even have a bathroom, and do not even get me started on the decor. It's so last century."

"There's a reason for that," Blake deadpanned to the heiress' annoyance. "There's also a ledge we can keep watch on." She pointed out the window. "You can crawl out through a hole just around the corner."

Ruby's eyes lit up seeing the little ledge without any cover from wind or cold as it looked like the perfect sniper's perch.

Yang dusted her hands off as she walked back in. "All done. So who takes first watch?"

"Dibs!" Ruby announced immediately. "I mean if that's okay with you, Professor?"

Oobleck laughed and tossed his grey backpack into a neighboring room down the hall. "Fine by me. I'm just your chaperon. I'll leave the high winds and cold for team RWBY. Good night. You'll be needing it..."

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "I really hate camping," she moaned, falling to her knees on her sleeping bag. "I wish I was back at the dorm with Zwei."

Yang didn't like the idea of her sister taking first watch, but found solace that she could keep an eye over her from the small campfire. "Don't worry about unpacking, sis," she said. "I'll take care of it. You go have fun on your perch.

The caped-girl smiled and pulled her hood down before grabbing a little sack full of cookies from her pack.

"This is going to be awesome!" she cried, going around the corner to slip out onto the ledge. She crawled a ways out with a gargoyle keeping her company, and she raised Crescent Rose's scope.

Weiss shook her head. "I suppose cookies are a part of a complete dinner too."

Yang sighed. "She looks like Summer..."

"Huh?"

"Nothing," she coughed. "I'm hungry. Who's got the food you and Rubes bought in the city, Blake?"

"It's in my extra pack," Weiss answered.

Blake froze and looked up to meet her partner in the eyes.

"Extra pack?" Yang asked confused.

"Yeah."

"The one Ruby made you leave at Beacon?" Blake cringed.

Everyone's heads slowly turned to the caped-girl.

"I'm gonna kill her!" Weiss snapped, looking for her weapon.

Yang shook her head. "Looks like we're eating huntsmen meals." She pulled out three dinners in plastic packages from her bag and tossed one to each of them. "Good thing Ruby made me pack these. I guess Zwei' gonna be eating well the next few days..."

"I wish I had stayed with him," Weiss cried tearfully. "I really, really hate camping."

"I'll leave one out for Ruby," Blake said.

Yang nodded and stared out the window. "What does your scroll say about my sister, Weiss?"

The heiress pushed a button and glanced down. "She's in the yellow. Same as us."

Yang frowned and pulled out her own scroll.

"What's wrong?" her partner asked, moving closer.

"Nothing," she assured. "Just wondering."

Blake glanced at Weiss but she was too busy trying to figure out what her sandwich was.

"It's just that Ruby was been leaving rose petals all over the city, using her aura and semblance more than the three of us combined, and yet she's just in the yellow. Am I the only one that finds that a little weird? After a rough session in Goodwitch's class she's about ready to pass out, and we've been at it all day."

Everyone paused and glanced out the window at Ruby, who had a chocolate chip cookie hanging from her mouth and a smile as wide as her face while attempting to feed the gargoyle.

"She looks happy," Weiss noted.

"And exhausted," Blake pointed out.

'She looks like Summer...'

"What's going on with you, Rubes?"

(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. No easy way to say it but Zwei did not come on the trip with team RWBY. I thought it best to leave him at the dorm. The girls are going through some serious stuff right now and the lost city is no place for a corgi. I also made Oobleck a bit more serious. We'll find out what is happening with Ruby in due time but you may already have an idea of what's going on with her and a certain girl who gets the hiccups. Once again 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