Drabble - The Hero of Argus
"It was a day unlike any other. The year? 57 PW. The Faunus Rights Revolution had been over for a decade by that point. The scars were healing all across Remnant. It was a time of peace. A time of prosperity. No one could have anticipated what would come for the city of Argus, located on Mistral's northern coast.
Now, Argus has always occupied a strange diplomatic gray area between Mistral and Atlas. Nominally, it's Mistrali territory. But it holds an Atlesian military base and culturally speaking, one could make the argument that it's closer to Atlas than Mistral. Which is something Atlas likes to take advantage of.
Rumor has it that Atlas was testing out some special, particularly destructive weaponry off the coast of Argus. With Atlas gone, I suppose we'll never really know the details but... they woke something. Out from beneath the waves it rose slowly. Methodically. Dangerously.
A great reptilian beast, larger than most skyscrapers. Black as night and covered in bone-like armor, as most Grimm are. Like a great, lumbering bear, but conforming itself like some grandiose, ancient lizard of old.
The beast had been angered by the weapon testing, either injured by it or incensed that its habitat had been disturbed. And, like all Grimm, it was beckoned towards the nearest human settlement. To exact its vengeance upon those that had a soul.
It turned towards the city of Argus, and began to march.
It rose out of the waves like some great herald of doom. As it entered the coastal waters of Mistral's Second City, it tore through the great bridge that made the city famous. See, Argus has walls surrounding it - but at the time, they only had it on land. The city was wholly unequipped for an aquatic attack. And this was no mere Sea Feilong, dangerous as those are! This was a beast out of the nightmares of the most seasoned huntsman!
Entire swathes of the city were destroyed within the hour. Neighborhoods that had stood since the founding half a century earlier? Erased from existence. Crushed beneath the Leviathan's sheer mass, like it was stepping on an anthill.
The Atlesian military did its best to repel the beast. But they were still using mid-century weaponry. Nothing like the railguns or dust-powered laser cannons they have now. Well, had. Still! Soldiers were crushed. Planes swatted aside. Artillery and missiles brushed off like they meant nothing!
Fun fact - the current Atlesian base in Argus was built in 58 PW. That's because the old one got destroyed in its entirety during this attack.
And then, like it had gotten BORED, the Leviathan retreated and slunk back beneath the waves.
Argus was left to recover, to pick up the pieces. But no one believed this was the end. No one knew WHY the great beast fell back, but everyone knew that it would be back. Grimm did not just RETREAT on the verge of victory. Except, perhaps, to further savor their meal. To play with their food.
So began the great defense of Argus. Communications were down all across the city, destroyed in the beast's rampage. There would be no help coming. Not from Atlas, not from Mistral. It would be up to Argus and Argus alone to defend itself. As if it could. Now, it’s true, Argus was home to Sanctum Academy, Mistral’s preparatory school for huntsmen and huntresses before applying for one of the Big 4 academies. But these were children. Less than even huntsmen-in-training. They would be no help.
And yet, in a roundabout way, Sanctum Academy would prove to be Argus’ salvation. Because, the morning after the initial attack, a team of freshly graduated huntsmen showed up at the gates of Argus. This team were intending to visit Sanctum and the job board located there, intending to pick their next mission.
And on this team was one Willow Schnee.
White of hair and pale as freshly fallen snow, garbed in the telltale colors of her illustrious house, no one would have blamed the young heiress for choosing a life of luxury. Of ease and comfort. And make no mistake, the woman has a taste for it, I can promise you that. But! She chose to become a huntress anyway. To work hard for her place in the world at that young age, like her father before her. So, at 21 years old, having just graduated from Atlas Academy a scant few months beforehand, Willow Schnee entered the city of Argus for the first time.
She was horrified by the destruction, as anyone would be. To think that a single Grimm had done all of this! But the ice princess, the once and future hero and matriarch, knew that she had a duty to the survivors, to the city. So she stayed. She and her team introduced themselves to the remaining forces of the Atlesian military, who knew that this was the only help they would be getting. Four, freshly graduated huntsmen. It would have to be enough.
Night fell. A storm rolled in from the sea. The city was dark, for most of the power had been taken out during the first attack. Even fires and candlelight were put out, for fear of drawing the beast’s attention. A wise precaution. For, before the clock struck midnight, a deafening roar like a demon from hell came from over the horizon.
The Leviathan had returned.
The only light in the entire city came from the port docks. A shimmering, ethereal Boarbatusk – white, instead of black – shone like a beacon to the entire city, and even to the Leviathan itself. And there, saddled on it like the ghostly Grimm was some great beast of war, sat Willow Schnee – saber in hand.
Slowly, the massive form of the Leviathan peeked over the horizon – trudging along the bottom of the ocean, splitting the waves like a knife. Even with half of it buried beneath the dark waters of the bay, each step was like an earthquake. But its challenger did not back down, did not move an inch. Eventually, the Leviathan reached the docks. It towered over all, its head reaching into the heavens, and it leered down at the bright, shining light offending eyes that were used to the deep depths of the sea.
The Leviathan opened its maw, large enough to eat countless people in a single bite, and roared in defiance – no doubt bursting the ear drums of anyone unlucky enough to not be wearing protection. Willow Schnee responded simply. She lifted her sword and shot out a shard of ice from its chambers of dust. The ice, the size of a boulder yet as sharp as the sword she carried, struck true. It embedded itself in the roof of the Leviathan’s still open maw.
No doubt, to the Leviathan it was the equivalent of a splinter, but as anyone can attest a splinter is deceptively painful despite its size. The beast roared in pain, and the battle began.
Willow CHARGED at the Leviathan, the summoned Boarbatusk she’d summoned running along the waves as if it were on land! In reality, Willow was using her semblance to conjure footholds of ice with every step that her steed took. Then, as one, the remaining functioning artillery of Argus fired – striking the beast while it was distracted with the ant that offended it so! The Leviathan once more roared in pain, and this did everything to boost the morale of the defenders. The beast could feel pain! The beast could be hurt! And if it could be hurt, it could die!
The sky LIT UP, both due to the flashes of lightning the storm conjured and the pounding of artillery fire upon the Leviathan! But in the end, these were just distractions. It had already been proven that the beast couldn’t be felled by the firepower available to the military. But the sheer force of the barrage forced the Leviathan to defend itself.
In a show of power unforeseen by the defenders, the Leviathan revealed its trump card. A low hum filled the air, even as the future Hero of Argus was slashing at the beast’s heels in an attempt to bring it low. It built, and built, and soon the beast itself was becoming yet another light in the stormy night. Some prescient commander ordered his troops to get down for cover, but it would do them no good.
FIRE shot from the Leviathan’s fanged mouth. With the intensity of a blowtorch, and all the power of the bombs that had been dropped on it that caused this entire disaster. A blinding flash of light filled the sky, blinding those who made the foolish mistake of staring directly at the blast. It was like the sun had risen, hours and hours too soon. In an instant, the entire Atlesian military base was VAPORIZED, all hands taken with it. There were no survivors.
A deafening silence filled the city as the Leviathan’s firebreath ceased – the only sounds coming from the pounding waves and the din of the rain. For a long moment, not even thunder rumbled across the sky. Then the beast leaned back and let out a bellowing roar of victory.
An utterly hubristic gesture that shows the folly of the Grimm. One must be careful to not declare their win before all of the combatants are down.
For the sting of a Lancer immediately took out one of the beast’s eyes.
All the while the Leviathan had been preparing its decisive blow, Willow Schnee had been herself preparing. Without dismissing her Boarbatusk, and directing it to continue harrying the Leviathan’s calves, she had summoned yet another vanquished beast – this time, a Lancer Queen. She’d hopped onto the back of the great wasp Grimm and launched into the sky. Willow had been smart to avoid the Leviathan’s attention while it charged its destructive blast. But now that the beast was finished and reveling in the death it caused, only then did Willow strike. And strike she did! The Leviathan did not even realize what was coming until the stinger of the Lancer pierced its eye!
The Leviathan roared in pain! But the damage was done. The beast was now blinded in one eye! And others were soon to follow, for Willow conjured up more great shards of ice to pierce the other two eyes on that side of the Leviathan! Utterly unable to see an entire side, such was the nature of its vision and the placement of the eyeholes in its skull.
The webbed paws of the beast, larger than some apartment buildings, began to swing wildly! Trying to knock the pesky insect that wounded it so out of the sky! The chase was on. On her Lancer, Willow Schnee dodged and weaved, doing everything in her power to avoid getting knocked off her flying steed. It was much like trying to swat an annoying fly out of your personal space, and much like that, it only takes one lucky hit to do so.
Eventually, the great beast did indeed get lucky. Those massive, clawed paws clipped the very edges of the Lancer Queen – and that was it. The summon disintegrated on contact, sending Willow Schnee tumbling out of the air and into the sea. The summoned Boarbatusk did its best to reach and catch its master, and it just barely managed the feat before Willow’s body collided with it – breaking her fall some but also breaking her hold on the creature, and it vanished as Willow Schnee herself vanished beneath the waves.
It had been the first and only blow Willow had taken during the fight. But when dealing with a monster like the Leviathan, it was enough.
For a long moment, it seemed like the last champion of Argus had fallen to their doom. That the Schnee heiress had perished before her life had truly begun. Then a shock of white peeked out from beneath the waves. There floated Willow Schnee. Battered. Damaged. But still holding on, albeit, struggling against the stormy sea. Distant observers noted the telltale flicker of white light – her aura. A single blow, a mere glancing blow at that, was enough to take it from full to nearly broken. She would not survive another.
And unfortunately for her, she had fallen on the Leviathan’s good side. It quickly noticed that its foe had survived her fall. The great beast then decided that, well, there’s no kill quite like overkill.
A telltale hum, one that haunts the nightmares of survivors, filled the frigid air once more. The spines on the beast’s back lit up one by one as the Leviathan charged its ultimate attack. And there floated Willow Schnee, utterly defenseless against the great God of the Sea.
The fire at the back of the Leviathan’s throat grew and grew until, finally, it was let loose upon its single human opponent. It was not prepared for what happened next. For a potent beam of lightning shot, not from the sky, but from beneath the waves! This blast met the Leviathan’s firebreath and held it at bay! Then, out of the waves, rose Willow Schnee! And beneath her heels was the horned, regal head of a summoned Sea Feilong!
The God and the Dragon battled for supremacy, their beams clashing in a light show that we will never see its like again!
But Willow Schnee was wise. The Sea Feilong held its own, but it would not do so forever. The Leviathan’s firebreath was just too strong. But that was fine. The Sea Feilong’s lightning breath was just a delaying action! Without so much as pausing its defense, the dragon unfurled its wings and leapt into the sky with Willow gripping its sleek, wet horns for dear life! Not once did its lighting cease battle the Leviathan’s fire, instead causing the great beast to turn and follow the dragon, directing the clashing beams out to sea rather than towards the city.
Suddenly, the Sea Feilong shut its mouth and DOVE out of the way, the Leviathan’s fire breath shooting out into the night sky and parting the very storm clouds themselves! Once more, another sun momentarily filled the night sky and the storm itself dissipated, the clouds ceasing to exist. Such was the power of the Leviathan’s firebreath and the resulting shockwave.
The Leviathan lumbered. Clearly, using its ultimate attack so many times in a row, and for so long at that, took a bit out of it. And in that moment of weakness, Willow Schnee struck.
The Sea Feilong dove towards the Leviathan and wrapped its long, serpentine length around the great beast’s gilled neck! Like a python, it began choking the very life out of the great beast, bringing a God itself to heel! The Leviathan clawed and scratched at the dragon, but its massive clawed paws were more for swimming than grabbing. Making matters worse, the way the Sea Feilong had wrapped itself around its victim was deliberate. All at the behest of its master, the dragon had wrapped around the Leviathan such that the dragon’s head would line right up with the Leviathan’s pierced and bleeding eyeholes.
The Sea Feilong charged its lighting once more. And Willow Schnee raised her saber just as she had in the beginning of the battle.
The dragon’s lightning breath PIERCED right through the Leviathan’s skull like a knife through butter. After but a moment’s hesitation as it burrowed through the beast, the blast of lighting came out the other side and struck the waves at an angle, turning the sea utterly deadly until the attack stopped. The Leviathan twitched and shuddered, lightning pouring down its insides, and its maw remained opened in a muted scream.
Then the lightning stopped.
There was a beat. A pause that lasted but a moment but must have felt like an eternity. And then the great beast, the God of the Sea, the Leviathan… began to disintegrate. Like all Grimm do upon death.
The ghostly Sea Feilong, summon of Willow Schnee, began to flicker as well. Its master’s aura had run out. The vanquishing dragon flew towards the ports of Argus with all haste. But fate was smiling upon the hero of the hour. For the dragon only dissipated as it laid its head down on the closest dock.
And there laid Willow Schnee.
Battered. Most certainly broken in places. Utterly exhausted. But victorious.
And she laid there for a while, not having the energy to move. The ice princess stuck laying on the wet, dirty dock that smelled of fish – which had begun to float to the surface of the bay, boiled by firebreath and electrocuted by lightningbreath – until the survivors began to peek out of the rubble. Slowly they crept towards Willow, the one that saved them all. Many of them doubted if she was even still alive. But as they approached her it became clear that she was.
Willow Schnee was alive, and she had saved Argus.
Willow looked at the survivors and choked out a single sentence.
“I could really use a glass of wine right about now.”
A resounding cheer rose up from all of Argus! The people hoisted the battered, soaked form of Willow Schnee up on their arms and gleefully chanted one thing:
“The Hero of Argus! The Hero of Argus!”
Willow Schnee would only serve as a huntress for one year, effectively retiring once she married and gave birth to her first child. But it was a year etched in legend. To this day, there is a statue of Willow at the Argus docks. And, in the main hall of Sanctum Academy, there is a large mural of the battle. Depicting Willow atop her Boarbatusk, raising her saber and pointing it at the Leviathan that almost laid that great city low.
I walked past that mural every day while I was at Sanctum.”
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