Adonna and Davy gained up a rooftop. Big Bear now little.
Evening had set in.
She handed him the spyglass and directed his sight towards a point along the inactive rail tracks.
"That's the Stables. The Thunderhoofs are there right now. If we free them and spook them towards the forest, Klein will be there to round them up and Rwby's got an idea how to utilise them." She explained. "Forget sneaking in to get one person. We will beat all the Marblemen and break everyone out!"
The look on his face when he turned to her vividly captured his distaste for that plan. Yet still, conscious of the urgency of the situation, he just sighed. "We don't have time to argue. Let's go."
She caught a murmur of him complaining that it's exactly why he didn't want her coming along, and she could barely suppress a laugh.
While the Rail yard was the final stop for all trains,
The Thunderhoof's were led inside reinforced iron walls bearing scars of time and use. Same steam-hissing engine that powered the mechanism which slid the massive gate open or shut, also powered the lighting inside the stables and outside. As blaring whistles alarmed the night throughout Ana, Marblemen guards wondered what could be going on.
Their curiosity answered shortly by big Bear's sudden appearance at the Stables, causing panic among them all.
Gates designed to contain Thunderhoofs, but big Bear's colossal size coupled with agility enabled him to vault and claw his way over into the Stables' yard.
Davy dropped off to find cover while Adonna rode the big dog to run rampage that sent Marblemen scrambling. Amidst the panic, gunshots, screams and snarls, crying alarm and the gate scraping open, Davy slipped into the barn-like structure, where he'd find the Thunderhoofs. His rifle and Klein's satchel with him.
Five of them. Each housed inside individual stalls robustly, intimidatingly secure. The locks on each were comprised of thickset iron bolts. He didn't even bother himself for a second glance at the intricate system of gears, levers and dials, he knew plainly he couldn't get those open.
All of a sudden, a Marbleman fled indoors. Face to face with Davy, both of them looked the other's rifle.
Davy dived behind a cover before the first shot blasted. Heartbeats thumping in his throat as another shot struck his cover then the enemy cocked again. He calmed himself with a breath, timed right after the next shot to peek out with his own rifle.
His finger paralysed on the trigger. And for that, he nearly caught a bullet and was back quaking behind cover while his sweaty palms couldn't grip the gun stable. Another deep inhale to calm himself again, yet still hesitant to shoot someone. So he turned to the slingshot and Rwby's impact bombs from the satchel.
One shot. He hit the wall beside the Marbleman so he got knocked by the blast.
Two more men fled into the barn. This time, Adonna rode right behind. Big Bear's great size, which almost rivalled the height of the entire barn, yet somehow he shrunk so to fit through the large doorway and one swipe of his paw sent both men sprawling. A swipe of his claws ripped one of those "sophisticated" locks on a Thunderhoof stall.
However,
None of the Thunderhoofs would move a step outside their stalls despite being freed. A testament of their training.
Adonna looked the bulbs overhead; an idea sparked.
Soon,
They rode out on big Bear while the building caught fire.
Rolling through the open gates were Marblemen reinforcements in vehicles unseen before. Automobile tanks shaped like large, metal onion mounted on chained treads. Each had the muzzle of an artillery projecting out the slit around its diameter.
Burst of shells blasted at big Bear. Powerful shells. One hit caused him to stumble in a yelp. Yet big Bear pushed on even faster, weaving around as the large muzzles kept shifting along their grooves with every missed shot. These muzzles could oscillate almost 360 degrees if not for the blind spot at the steam-puffing engine behind each tank.
As the Stables' fire grew, Thunderhoofs finally spooked. They stampeded out. Gallops like clapping thunder, speed like flying arrows; they streaked around for a way out the walls. And when they found it, they bulldozed past an obstructing tank and escaped out the gate as a herd.
Chaos visited streets of Ana.
Thunderhoofs streaked too fast for anything to keep up, so big Bear suffered all attention. Chased and shot by riflemen on horses. Veering street to street from Marblemen tanks while Davy slung bombs that left nothing more than soot on their armour.
A barricade of wheel-mounted canons appeared ahead; Adonna steered big Bear to claw up a building. Then leapt from rooftop to rooftop as if those houses were lined up for just that purpose.
They both could barely hang onto big Bear's fur during the drop back down into a familiar alley.
Soon enough Marblemen came passing that alley. However big Bear was gone. It was as though the giant dog just disappeared into thin air.
Away from the city,
Klein waited up on a treetop in the bordering woods. As anticipated, the Thunderhoofs should run back to their natural habitat, the woods, when freed. Once his spyglass spotted some entering the forest, he followed after their electrical streaks.
Unlike that metal-hoofed wildling they failed to capture, these ones still had their training to keep calm around people.
Klein approached slowly 'til he got to pet one's fur. After that, he and Rwby led a couple of them while another couple followed by pack instinct.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8th December.
Rwby had begun Trial and error inside the expansive cave. She made a makeshift treadmill to allow a Thunderhoof to build up speed. Klein led one onto the belt, geared with ordinary harness. Already trained for draft, a spank was enough to get it running.
Electricity charged its fur and antlers.
The harness glowed.
Bulbs popped.
Some liquid with wired rod inside bubbled in its jar.
Wires melted.
The treadmill broke down, holes smashed into its belt like hoof-prints in mud.
And most jaw-dropping of all, the harness on it had all but burnt away.
Rwby took notes.
That 8th of December,
Some life had returned to the soulless city of Ana as mischievous youngsters ran around sticking posters of 'the girl on the big brown dog' on walls. Each poster infuriated patrols of Marblemen. They'd rip them off the walls only to come upon more and more. Someone must've spent the whole night painting those.
Lying low in that home of Elsa's contact, Adonna and Davy were always peeking outside, watching the enemy grasp for non-existent clues.
Other Marblemen combed through the woods but found only one out of the five escaped Thunderhoofs.
9th December.
Rwby and Klein had set up an enclosed space within the spacious cave so a Thunderhoof could run in circles in this track.
12th December.
A small sailboat reached Ana's port while an entourage of Marblemen awaited there to receive the person.
She wore blue scale armour. A quiver at her hip, black bow at her back, and blonde ponytail dangled inches below her shoulder level. She shook wrists with the Marblemen's Commanding officer; her skin pale compared to his.
Soon after that, this woman was left alone with the Marbleman, Gaff, as escort, explaining while walking her through the metropolis.
The eye of a periscope shifted around on a rooftop.
Indoors, in a dimly lit closet space, Adonna sat cross-legged on the rough wooden floor, attention divided between that blueprint of Marblemen stronghold and little Bear sprawled beside her. Rehashing the plan of attack with Bear. You never could tell if she expected him to understand or she's talking to herself. The dog's big eyes just blinked.
Davy pushed open the secret door to their hiding spot. Space was cramped, but enough for the three of them. "Talking to Bear again, huh?" He cranked the lantern brighter then sat face-to-face to her.
She offered a sheepish smile. "He's a great listener, even if he can't talk back in a language I understand."
"He would've told you you're being too optimistic with this plan."
"Rwby's invention will work. If anyone can figure out the impossible, it's her. You can always count on those two."
Davy uttered an unconvinced grunt. "Regardless. The question is are you prepared for what lies ahead?"
Adonna's smile faltered as she turned her attention back to tracing finger along the blueprint. "Every passing hour that boy, Tom, endures in the Mines is on me. Because I sent him there. Truth is I was looking for ways to fix that and get him out too. But then we what? Rescue 2 and forget others like they don't matter? It's not right and yes I am prepared to make it right."
"What about to end someone. They've seen us and they will be prepared for us. When we step out of this house, the enemy won't hesitate. If it comes down to it, are you prepared to end someone's life to save yourself or your friends, or someone else?"
The weight of his words settled heavily between them.
The homeowner interrupted them with abrupt urgency. Something they had to come see through his periscope.
Davy took the first peep, and he saw Sela. He yielded the sight to Adonna who confirmed the armour-clad archer roaming their street alongside a Marbleman was that very thief they met in Ona Crossing.
But alarming was her presence for the homeowner. "She's the Astrid Huntress! There was an incident before Marblemen, when someone stole one of the Thunderhoofs. They never reached an accommodation with the mayor, but people say she is the best Astrid hunter there is. If Marblemen have hired her then…"
Davy and Adonna looked each other. They had to meet her to understand
So
They stalked her from rooftops. Little Bear carried by Adonna inside her bag.
They thought they were shadowing her.
However,
She was luring them in as all of a sudden she whirled around and shot up an arrow from her bow.
While her aim missed them, the shot packed unnatural power that didn't pierce but shattered part of the parapet wall of the roof.
"That was a warning shot!" She pulled another arrow.
Gaff didn't even believe there were people on that rooftop 'til Adonna revealed herself. "Sela, it's us!" She shouted.
"That's them!" Gaff yelled with a pointed finger.
The huntress held her bow drawn, turned a deaf ear to whatever Gaff was saying next. "Sela? Where is Sela?" her face scrunched up at Adonna.
In that moment Adonna realised something chilling: this woman wasn't who they thought. As much as she looked like a mirror image of their friend – save with a pony tail, she wasn't Sela.
The huntress shot another of her mighty arrows that demolished part of the roof beneath Adonna's feet.
Davy snatched her away from falling.
Debris rolled down.
Then came big Bear out the dust.
Gaff ran from the scene.
Over big Bear's low, threatening growl, the huntress asked again. "Where is Sela?"
"Who are you?" asked Davy.
She called herself Bella. Voice laced with spite whenever she pronounced Sela's name, and when they wouldn't answer her question a third time, she attacked.
Her arrow struck into big Bear's tough hide.
Bella proved as nimble as her sister – or even more in fact. She reeled and rolled away from Bear's paws, snapping teeth and lashing tail.
He couldn't lay an attack on her.
But once she gained some distance away, she released a flurry of arrows that did the dog plenty damage.
He dropped.
Davy had to stop her from releasing another shot aimed at Bear's head, so he slid down from the dog's, back firing dual flintlocks.
Both shots glanced off the scales of Bella's armour like harmless little pebbles. Before you could say jack, she'd rushed Davy.
She swiped him a kick so heavy it sent him tumbling away. The heaviest hit he'd ever taken in his life. Captain Deron's blows were nothing compared to hers.
Gaff returned with a group of Marblemen there. City alarms came alive, their blaring whistles escalated things that Adonna was paralysed then and there not knowing what to do.
However, only for a moment.
Her will reinforced itself as she slid down after Davy when it looked like he wasn't moving at all.
Big Bear rose again – more aggressive, more dangerous. His repeated barks kept terrified Marblemen at bay, but not the stone-cold Bella, who drew once again her bow, aimed the dog's skull.
But a thought stopped her. "I would be completing the job on first day." She turned to the Marblemen. "Tell your Commander that will be double of our agreed amount and he pays half before I execute." She demanded.
She wouldn't shoot while the Marblemen hadn't accepted her renegotiation in absence of their leader, and she wouldn't respond to commands nor threats even as Adonna managed to walk Davy back on big Bear and they fled.
Bella sat on the ground in that row while blaring alarms brought every Marbleman in the city alive to big Bear's pursuit. She wouldn't lift a finger as the afternoon ripened to evening.
Wounded Bear still leapt and clawed up rooftops 'til gaining the highest peak in Ana: the domed rooftop of the City's observatory. There, he would let out his loudest howl that could be heard from miles away across the whole island before finally collapsing.
That signal reached Klein and Rwby.