Y/N's Pov
The attack had been repelled, but there were Grimm pouring in from various directions even months later. We'd managed to get rid of all the White Fang forces that had been involved fairly quickly thanks to the help of the other schools.
Amber had stayed for a few days, but she decided to leave with the others for a while. I heard that team RWBY had all split up after they left, and most of the teachers had gladly accepted the break. That left me the only one who knew beacon all that well to help.
I didn't blame any of them, but I still was more than capable of helping. Most days, it was just repelling Grimm attacks and clearing the routes they came through.
I was currently at the landing area for bullheads on Beacon's campus. The Grimm had been staying on top of it for a while, preventing us from landing.
If we were going to get any substantial amount of people in to start clearing the rest of the campus up, we needed those landing pads. So I was sent in to speed through the lines and clear the area, giving us a foothold on the rest of it.
I arrived fairly quickly, and tore up whatever Grimm I saw. Once it was open, I pulled out my scroll and called Ironwood's Aceops.
Y/N: "You're clear to land. I'll go see if I can clear a path to the tower."
Clover: "Negative, kid. Stay put. We'll go through together." As if that was going to happen. From the air, we had seen a much larger amount of Grimm than I had just dealt with. I needed to find them and get the drop on them. A ship flying down would alert them to our presence. I didn't tell them that because it wouldn't be worth the argument.
Y/N: "Just get here quick." I hung up and teleported along the fastest path to the tower. We had been able to set up a force of huntsmen at the top of it, but they could only be supplied by air. We had decided it would be better to lock it down and pull them out until we could clear more of the area.
I saw several more small Grimm along the path, but I cut them in two before they even noticed me. I was getting worried. I wondered if Salem had managed to get the Grimm to actually behave strategically and hide, which could be a massive blow to us. I then made it to the cafeteria. I looked through the windows.
Y/N: "What?" The inside was covered in ash. It was as if all the Grimm we had seen from the air had all been drawn here and had then been killed by someone.
It definitely wasn't any of us who did.
Just then, I found what had done it. I saw just outside, a beowulf walking along, only to be jumped by another Grimm in the shape of a horse, but it was about the size of an Atlas mech. It looked like it had broken into where students had kept their dust.
It attacked the beowulf. Probably one of Salem's latest failed experiments. This one seemed to have lost control and started killing everything else it saw.
I knew if it was smart enough to lure its targets into a small area and kill all of them quickly, I would need to deal with it as fast as possible.
I fired a fire dust wave at it, getting its attention. It looked pretty mad from just that. I drew it out into the ruined courtyard, where I could bring my superior speed and dust waves to bear more effectively.
It seemed to know what I was doing, but followed me anyway. Suddenly dust shot out of it and almost hit me. So that's what it was doing with it. I teleported closer to it and stunned it with the blunt end of my sheath, and began to drill it as fast as I could. It forced me to break off, and seemed to be learning.
I was somewhat off balance from it being so adaptable, most Grimm were defenseless once I managed to stun them. It seemed to notice this and pressed its advantage, charging full speed at me with a trail of fire dust behind it.
I dodged, only for it to turn around and come right back at me. Afterward it began to circle me and send barrages of all types of dust at me. I hit back with some dust waves, but for now we were relatively evenly matched. But I still had one idea of how to beat it.
I switched my sword to fire and water dust together, and stabbed into the ground, creating a massive cloud of steam. I used the new camouflage to sneak up behind it and dash underneath it, cutting it in half before it could react.
Just then, I got a call from the Aceops.
Clover: "Where are you, kid? I told you to wait for us."
Y/N: "I needed to find where all the Grimm went. Turns out one broke into the armory and went crazy. It killed all the others and ate all the dust."
Clover: "Where are you? We need to kill this thing, then."
Y/N: "Already done. I'll meet you at the tower." I headed to it.
No Grimm had broken inside, but I needed to check on the vault and make sure it was safe. And I needed to keep that a secret from the Aceops. Ironwood hadn't let them in on most of our actual fight.
I went down and found it all untouched since I had last been there. Everything was still as it had been. The vault was still hidden and there was no way anyone could possibly find it without help. I headed back up.
The Aceops arrived just as I got back out. They didn't see me get out of the elevator.
Clover: "You clear the place yet?" He was only referring to the floor we were on, but I didn't technically have to lie.
Y/N: "Nothing got in. We're good."
Marrow: "That was stupid, you know. Running off on your own like that."
Y/N: "Cry me a river. I still got it done."
Clover: "Running off on your own is a recipe for disaster. You should-"
Y/N: "I killed a Geist when I was seven, and I have just as much experience as you do. I can handle myself."
Clover: "Still, you should know that trying to just do everything alone isn't always the best way to do it."
Y/N: "Now you sound like Ozpin. Anyways, let's call James and tell him it's done." They seemed to be surprised at me calling him by his first name, but I didn't care.
I arrived with the Aceops back in Vale, where a temporary headquarters had been set up for the cleanup crew. Ironwood called us to debrief. The Aceops hadn't seen anything too interesting, and were dismissed.
Ironwood: "So, tell me about this unique Grimm you ran into."
Y/N: "I don't think we'll be seeing another one. It went haywire and started killing other Grimm. I think Salem was trying to make something smarter, but that made it too independent. It was definitely smarter than any Geist I've seen."
Ironwood: "Well, in that case, you have earned some time off."
Y/N: "What?"
Ironwood: "You have done enough. You may go join your friends and let us finish this."
Y/N: "Absolutely not. I can still fight. What if there's more experimental Grimm like that running around? We don't want anyone who isn't in the know about Salem seeing that."
Ironwood: "I have plenty of trustworthy people who will keep it a secret."
Y/N: "What, like how you kept us seeing an attack on Beacon coming a secret when you showed up with an occupation force? Besides, I've spent my entire life here. I know this place better than anyone else you have helping right now." He sighed and sat back.
Ironwood: "Alright then. You can stay. For now."
Y/N: "That's not your call to make."
Ironwood: "I am the one in charge of this effort."
Y/N: "You know what Ozpin and I decided we would do if he died?" He looked curious. "If he was killed, I would carry his cane and hold things together until he came back. And right now, that's my job." I touched the cane on my belt. He seemed to get what I meant.
Ironwood: "Thank you, Y/N. You may go." I turned and walked out. I went around looking for some food. I planned to eat, and then find somewhere else I could help. I looked down at my coat and noticed it was covered in ash and dirt from the fight. Whatever, I thought. It wasn't my biggest problem right now.
Yang's Pov
I watched the news about the cleanup effort at Beacon. It sounded like it was going well for now. They hadn't found that Adam guy yet, but the rest of the white fang was out. I looked down at my stub. I didn't know what I wanted to do now.