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Pyrrha was peering through the windows of the Argus Limited. She wasn’t a stranger to the route that the train took. Often taking the train to visit her parents in Argus. This time however, it wasn’t for her family that she was leaving Beacon and the city of Mistral behind her as the trees sped past in the windows.
Her first year at Beacon had many great memories, being part of team JNPR, meeting Jaune and protecting the whole of Vale. She had managed to defeat Cinder and had gotten the powers of the Fall Maiden. Her second year was spent mostly just studying and doing her maiden training where possible. It had gone well despite a rough beginning. It was difficult to describe what she was doing now, she was part of Ozpin’s Brotherhood but not a full time member. She didn’t have the authority to go on her own missions like Qrow and Summer and had to basically follow their commands.
Summer had joined during the end of her second year, she had been part of the brotherhood before but had gone rogue to go after Salem, it hadn’t worked out and had caused her to be stranded in the wild for 11 years. The news of her survival was a great surprise yet she hadn’t made it out unharmed, looking at the woman in front of her. She had scars all over her face and was missing 3 of her fingers on her left hand. She had been in an even worse state when they had first met, she had been starving.
“Is everything alright Pyrrha?” The dark red haired woman asked as their eyes met. She quickly nodded her head. “I have just been worried about my team and all. My scroll does not have a reception here and I kind of forgot to say goodbye.” She said scratching the back of her head. JNPR did know about her role as a Maiden, it was something Opzin was reluctant to approve but she couldn't handle lying to her friends and especially Jaune.
Before the two could say anything further, the door to their train compartment had opened. A man with short black hair and pale red eyes walked in with two expensive looking bottles in his hand. “You certainly weren't lying about the amenities of this train, Pyrrha, I had heard Argus was famous for its whiskey, I should have known that the train itself would carry them as well.” He handed over the other bottle to Summer who accepted it with a grin. “You know Pyrrha you can drink if you want. A little bit of liquid courage is useful to a huntress.” Summer grinned. She quickly shook her head. “I don't want to risk it with my maiden powers, especially since Ozpin did tell us that we-”
Qrow started laughing out loud. “We just need to scare a Goliath off. I know they are scary, but they are smart creatures. We just need to remind them that Mantle is not something to be messed with.” He said in a slightly serious tone. Mantle had suffered greatly after the incident with Lionheart. Resulting in many of the stronger Grimm moving closer towards the cities. Pyrrha and her 2 companions had been asked to take care of one of those. While itself wasn't a threat to a greater city, it could easily destroy a village on its own.
The train started slowing down as she could hear the PA playing a jingle and announcing the next station. “I guess we can drink to our victory later.” Summer said as she packed her bottle away, Qrow quickly removed the cork on his bottle and took a sip before doing the same. The three of them had grabbed their coats.
The train station clearly was an unpopular one, it was attached to a small village. Besides the three of them, no-one had stepped out, just a single family of three that had suitcases in their hands as they were planning to board the train, they likely were evacuating to Argus. Pyrrha understood why they would have.
Qrow had walked up to them, “hello there, I see you are leaving this place. Is there a chance you have a vehicle of some sorts? I can pay for it.” The parents looked uninterested at first, until he pulled out a stack of Lien that had been in his pocket. The man and the woman looked at each other before agreeing to the trade. Quickly rushing into the train afterwards.
“Weren’t we going to walk to our objective? That seemed like the Lien Ozpin gave us for the mission.” She said with a bit of an all knowing smile. Qrow put his hands in his pocket. “It's more than a fair enough price, those aren't going to return anytime soon regardless. Unlike us two, Summer can't fly to where we are going.” he said with a slight grin.
The three of them moved further into the village, there weren't many people around. Merely just a few homes with their lights still on. Hiding behind a few tall trees, stood the home of the family. All of the blinds had been closed, yet the old car remained in front.
Qrow walked up to the driver’s side and unlocked the car. Summer took the passenger seat next to him while Pyrrha sat in the back. The engine rattled and didn't want to start. Qrow cursed and attempted it a few more times before it finally roared to life. “Do you know how we need to get there?” Summer asked as she fastened the seat belt around her waist.
“The target is located around an abandoned SDC mine, we just need to head towards the mountain and find the train tracks.” He said as he maneuvered the antique out of the driveway and onto the less traveled roads out of the village. The further they had gone, the more thick the wilderness had grown. Some rusted wrecks even had plants growing in them on the side of the road. Once or twice Pyrrha had seen the sign of a battle. Weapons still stuck in the ground and trees with deep scratches on them. It wasn't an unusual sight as a huntress, even in Vale. Mountain Glenn had been a sight she saw often during assignments, which had plenty of skeletons, still the sight didn't soothe her nerves.
She grabbed her scroll and looked towards her chat with Jaune, despite the annoying reminder that there was no connection, being able to look at him gave her some confidence at least. She had a duty to serve as a Maiden.
“How has Yang been?” Summer asked while looking into the distance of her window. While she hadn't heard the full story, Yang was still angry at her for leaving 11 years ago. “Well Team RWBY itself has been busy with their patrolling duties around Vale. After what almost happend at the festival, he has been a bit more careful.”
Summer nodded her head before the three of them became silent again. It slowly started raining as Pyrrha could hear the sound of the wipers going faster. “Why does it always rain when I go with you on a mission?” Summer said with a chuckle, causing Qrow to sight annoyed. “Be happy that we are in a car at least.”
Merely 5 seconds after he said that, the car started beeping loudly. He kept staring in front of him while the car seemed to slow down and Summer started laughing loudly, it reminded her of how Ruby would laugh.
After it had stopped, Qrow stepped out of the vehicle and opened the hood. “Yeah this car isn't going any further. The engine’s belt has been torn in two. It's just going to overheat if we try to drive it now. Let's go on foot, can't imagine it's much further.
The three of them put on their hoods, grabbed their weapons and started walking further along. The mud made any steps they took more difficult. After what felt like half an hour, they had come across the rusty and abandoned train tracks. “I can't see the mountain anywhere with these trees. Do you want me to fly?” She said looking at Qrow who transformed into a crow. They really did not like her doing it unnecessarily. He was flying above them while she and Summer watched him. Regardless, she couldn't fly that high for now.
Qrow had returned after a minute. “We need to follow the track towards the left. Haven't seen any sign of the Goliath yet so keep your eyes open.”
The three of them started walking on the train tracks towards the mountain. “Do you think people still come here?” Pyrrha asked curiously, seeing the tracks beyond repair as the wood had rotted away.
“I wouldn't worry about coming across any civilians here, this place got abandoned a long time ago when the number of huntsmen started becoming tighter in Mantle.” Qrow said as the trio moved through the lush forest which almost seemed to go on forever until they came across a broken bridge which had fallen into a river underneath it. The rails were warped badly as well.
Pyrrha stepped forward confidently, as she held out her hands. Part of the bridge started warping back into its supposed place as she strained her powers to keep it there, she signaled to Summer who quickly took the chance to cross it. Upon seeing she had made it over, she let the bridge go, falling into the water again with a big splash. Qrow had already crossed in his crow form. Pyrrha focused as she channeled her maiden powers. It wasn't as much as flying, then boosting herself for a large jump as she landed with a roll.
The track started going up the mountain as they had started the hike. More of the mining equipment was visible, from abandoned coffee pots to empty dust containers.
The mine itself came into view after a few minutes. It looked bigger than she expected.
There clearly seemed to be a main office and a loading station for trains. A lone train engine with SDC marks still stood on the track, slightly tilting forward to the bottom of the mountain. Their only thing likely preventing the aging brakes, The mine itself appeared to be closed tightly with wood, mine carts and other trash being used to block the entrance. She didn't need to worry about a death stalker popping out of the cave like during her initiation.
“There is no Goliath here, are you sure that the intel was right?” She asked Qrow who was pacing around impatiently.
‘’It should be somewhere around here. You can’t mistake one of those giants for something else.. Let’s just stay here and keep watch. Perhaps it's out on patrol or whatever Grimm do with their free time.’’ He leaned on an old metal dust container.
Summer sat next to him. ‘’It is weird that we haven’t come across any Grimm so far, the village is still protected by a huntress but how come that there isn't any here? Especially around an abandoned mine. Grimm tend to love those, seems like your bad luck finally has run out.’’ She said with a chuckle
Pyrrha inspected the train engine. It was an older model. The dust inside likely already either ruined because of the heavy rusting. There wasn’t much evidence of the people that worked here. She hoped that they had escaped without issue. At last the rain had stopped falling, the ground was still muddy but she at least could take her hood off. She started playing absentmindedly with a rusty metal pipe, using her semblance to bend its shape. After half an hour of doing nothing important, she started thinking that they had come for nothing.
At least that was until they heard the sound of an elephant trumpet in the distance. Qrow turned into his bird form and flew high, until he quickly returned. ‘’It seems like our target brought some of his friends here. We still can do what we planned but-’’
Summer put her hand on his shoulder before walking towards the track. ‘’I got a plan.’’
Qrow responded with a sigh and rolled his eyes. ‘’Summer your plans aren’t exactly the best. You can’t fly away like me if you are surrounded. Neither do we want to risk the Fall Maiden now.’’ Qrow responded, which surprised Pyrrha.
‘’The Goliaths are smart and have gotten more aggressive, we are but flies to that vermin. Just being a bother to it isn’t going to inform its friends that they need to go away from here. Once it crosses the river, it will terrorize that village and might even be of danger to the train. I know a way we can kill it.’’
‘’Qrow I think we should hear her out.’’ Pyrrha interrupted the two.
Qrow crossed his arms in response. ‘’Fine, make it quick then.’’
‘’That train is at risk of going down the mountain very soon if it rusts any further. What do you think would happen if it ran across Grimm during that?’’ She said with a confident smile. ‘’If you can distract it and keep it around the tracks, me and Pyrrha will take care of the rest. If a train ramming it won’t kill it, nothing will.’’
‘’If this plan fails, I want that whiskey bottle of yours.’’ Qrow remarked before he turned into a crow and flew down to the trees and towards the Goliath. Pyrrha could no longer see him.
‘’Do you think he will be okay?’’ Pyrrha said as she readied her weapons. Holding her sword Miló and her shield Akoúo̱ with a tight grip. She was only allowed to use her Fall Maiden powers if it was necessary. She could not rely on them. Balancing the two was a difficult act in itself. As her training at Beacon rarely allowed for them to be combined. If she used it where other students could see, it certainly would lead to trouble.
‘’He knows that I am not going to give that whiskey bottle back.’’ she said with a grin before she readied her axe. The sounds of the Grimm approaching came closer. Bushes were moved by their stampede, sounding closer and closer until a whole group of Boarbatusks jumped out from behind the trees.
Summer didn’t even bother using the rifle function of her axe as she charged at the Boarbatusks, jumping out of their way when they charged her way and cutting into their weak bellies. They were among the most predictable of Grimm. She just needed to hold them off along with the Fall Maiden so Qrow could distract the Goliath. The Boarbatusks were likely just scouts as their numbers started dropping rapidly. She readied herself again, as after a quiet minute, a group of bear-like Ursas had emerged. She did not want to risk her companion dealing with them and ran into the trees. Peeking behind her to see if they followed. She turned herself around in an instant, surprising the Ursa that was only a few meters behind her. She brutally slashed into it before it could defend itself. The trees made moving around difficult although it also meant that the Ursa could not use their numbers to their advantage.
Pyrrha turned Miló into the rifle form as she could see numerous flying Griffons appearing from above the trees. Compared to the Nevermore that had terrorized the Vytal festival, they were nothing. Still though, in their current numbers they got closer and closer. She quickly turned Miló back into its sword form. A confident Griffon flew at her with their claws ready, she deflected the attack with Akoúo̱ before quickly stabbing the beast into its belly. She took a few steps back, her back facing the train as she tried to make it difficult for the Grimm to attack her from behind. She heard a growl that she did not recognize, after a few seconds the two sources made themselves clear. Manticores were a lion-like species of flying Grimm that preferred staying around the higher mountains of Mistral. One opened its mouth and spewed a fire ball at her. She couldn’t raise her shield quick enough and hit the train with her back. She had to quickly jump out of the way before one could slash her, running towards the back of the train. She turned around and threw Akoúo̱. Clipping the wings of the Manticore that had attacked her. She quickly resumed her run as she made their way to the building next to the mine. Using her Fall Maiden powers to jump onto the roof.
She did not know how good Manticores were at climbing, she had to take care of the one flying quickly. Instead of it charging at her. It remained in the air. The sounds of the grounded Manticore attempting to climb pressuring her further. She changed Miló into its javelin form, while throwing her shield at the Manticore. It dodged by making a loop in the air. Pyrrha aimed her javelin and threw it at the spot in the air where the loop would finish. It pierced the body of the Manticore, she used her semblance to gain control of her weapons again, moving it into her hands. She charged at the side of the building where the other Manticore was, putting her shield underneath her as she jumped off. The Manticore looked surprised at her, it couldn’t escape as its head collided with the metal shield. She aimed her javelin at it as they both fell to the ground. Partially softening her own fall with its body. The javelin pierced its head and it soon disappeared into dust.
Pyrrha ran towards the front of the train and saw that the Goliath was standing at the front of the bridge, stampeding above the tracks. ‘’There should be a valve at the back of the train for the air brakes. Release that and it should be enough for it to start rolling down the tracks. I will take care of the Grimm.’’ Summer yelled from the other side of the train.
She ran towards the back of the train. She couldn’t see anything that resembled a valve, there were many metal panels on it. She silently cursed as she raised her arms and used her semblance to open them. Numerous panels flew off, some ripping in half as the rust had already weakened them. She spotted the valve, and started trying to turn it. It was very heavy. She used her semblance to finally get movement into it. An ear piercing hiss started coming from the train itself as the air brakes lost its power yet the rusty wheels did not want to move. She started pushing on the back of the train. Using her Fall Maiden powers combined with her semblance.
There was a slight movement in the train as it moved slightly forward, the rust on the wheels slipping on the wet tracks yet they remained in their position, however they could not stop gravity. The wheels started screeching as it started being pulled down the tracks. The old engine started making more speed as it made its way down the mountain. Despite the wet terrain, the metal wheels became red hot as flames started coming out of it.
Qrow heard the screeching sound and knew it meant that the train was going down. He needed to ensure that the Goliath wouldn’t try to run away. When it seemingly spotted the train, he didn’t know what it was thinking but he wasn’t going to allow it to flee. He started swiping his scythe at his legs. Despite the screeching sound coming closer. He knew that he could fly away in his crow form. The Goliath started flapping its ear aggressively and tried to stamp Qrow death but it was a slow beast.
He sliced through the right back leg. It made an angry trumpet sound, the train had come and it could not flee. Qrow transformed and watched from a tree branch how the train collided with the Goliath. It launched the beast onto the remains of the bridge, the various metal supports piercing its body before the train itself crashed onto the bridge. The front falling in the river. The Goliath had turned to dust and the Grimm that were reinforcing it, fled back into the forest.