Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of The Rings, the Middle-Earth universe, Shadow of Mordor or RWBY.
This work will contain moments of intense violence, dark and dirty humor, and canonical divergences.
The All-Eater
Vacuo-Desert Tower
In a higher level of the tower which jutted from the sandy cliff, Dushrat the Advisor walked briskly down a hall with a slightly larger figure following behind. The Red-Armored Uruk made sure to remove his feathered helmet and tuck it under his arm as he approached the door, gesturing for his companion to stay until he was called in. His companion grew a miffed look, but folded his arms and leaned against the wall complacently as the Advisor prepared himself whilst turning back to the door. Pushing it open, he was greeted with the sight of a larger Uruk pinning a human under an armored boot. A berserker, if the dual weapons strapped to his back were any indication, as bald as most of that particular style of Uruk-Hai fighter were. The weapons were large hammers, which were nearly caked in several layers of dried blood from humans, Uruks and several other creatures by the looks of it. The Larger Uruk turned his square-like head to look at Dushrat, who merely gave a restrained nod as he looked for-
"Ah, so it seems the Warchief's Errand boy has come to grovel at the feet of a true strategist." an Uruk lounging in a tattered stone chair said with a sideways glance, he was dressed in Red-armor identical to Dushrat's with the same type of helmet resting in his lap.
"Skog," Dushrat said with a sigh as he glanced between him and the Berserker "can I not step foot within your vicinity without being mocked?"
"Perhaps, but what would be the fun of a peaceful greeting?" the Seated Uruk asked before giving a small grin, gesturing towards a nearby seat "I take it you coming here means the Warchief wants something of me? What, Dreamer doesn't like my new training regime?"
Dushrat declined the seat, instead walking past the Berserker to stand a few feet away from Skog "I'm here to request you do something other than come up with ridiculous excuses for fooling around with slaves."
"Oh but this is official business." Skog gestured towards the pinned Human "I walked past some of the tower reinforcements and this little runt's quartermaster lashed it too hard in my direction, got a nasty bit of blood on my shiny gauntlets. I figured if he's got enough blood to go around spilling on innocent bystanders, might as well put that extra red to good use and paint me a room."
"And that seems like a better use of your time than accompanying us to one of the meetings?" Dushrat implored, already knowing the answer he'd receive.
As he expected, the other Red-Armored Uruk just tilted his head to the side "Hey, if Dreamer ever truly needs my help then he can send for me. Until then-" he turned to the berserker and snapped his leathery fingers "Muggrish, get back to it!"
The larger Uruk merely nodded before cracking his knuckles and leaning down to continue wailing upon the slave beneath him.
Dushrat took that as a chance to cautiously evaluate Skog. The armor labeled both of them as Warchief Tugog's confidants, the minds behind his forces, yet only Dushrat was given the title of advisor. This other Uruk was known instead as Skog the Corruptor, famous for saving the previous Warchief's life by convincing him to sacrifice nearly his entire army in order to kill their targets as well. Though the previous Warchief stood victorious in that battle, Skog's plan had left him more than open for Tugog to usurp him. The two had very different ways of going about the same thing, but Dushrat knew that he was smart enough to see the merit of his proposition.
"So" the Corruptor turned back to flash another grin "If Dreamer didn't send you down here, mind giving me just a bit of an explanation?"
Dushrat's gave another small sigh as he glanced at the helmet under his arm, "I... would like to propose something." he spoke, receiving only a gesture to continue "The portal that our Master created, I have inclination to believe that there may be some ties to it in another land. I however have been tasked with formulating a potential plan of escape if we ever face a siege that the Black Gate's forces cannot repel."
"Shouldn't go about speaking like that." Skog interrupted "Those Gate Guardians would take more than offense from comments such as those."
Dushrat nodded as his fellow confidant leaned back in his chair and placed a hand to his chin "So, you wish for me to go conduct this little study into the Dreamer Gate?"
The Advisor scoffed at the sound of that title "I had hoped the use of that term would stay with the drabble."
It was a label given to the red portal which circulated amongst the lower dregs of their army. Starting as a mockery towards his master formulated by Hork's forces, it had grown to be used by their own underlings as well.
"Aw, its just a little pet name," the Corruptor rolled his eyes "if I'd known it would hurt you so badly I don't think I'd have needed a blade in our last duel."
"Whatever," the Advisor grumbled, hoping to direct the conversation back to its intended course "I just need you and yours working on this, I do not feel at ease letting possible information slip by."
"I'm a tactician," Skog stated evenly "even if I had the time to go searching about for clues, interrogating softskins and such, I wouldn't know what to do with that information and neither would you."
Ignoring the underhanded insult, Dushrat stood straight "That's why I sought the services of another before coming here, I do believe he will be more than capable of putting together any information you find."
At that he turned toward the door and called for the one waiting outside, curiosity overtook both Skog and Muggrish as they watched an Uruk just a tad shorter than the berserker step in. Covered in red and white war paint whilst wearing a tunic and leather wrappings on his feet and hands, this Uruk also had a large pouch of parchments pages and scrolls hanging over his gut.
"Ah, Skog the Corruptor in the flesh!" the red and white Uruk said with a smile as he stepped forward "Torz the Literate One is what they call me, I was told to stay outside until the dear Advisor here saw fit to allow me to enter."
Torz gave only a small bow before glancing back at Muggrish "And I suppose this is the Rock-Crusher himself? I have to say even though you are nowhere near as large as the Black Gate's Keeper you still take up quite a bit of space! I can see why some refer to you as the Corruptor's bodyguard."
"You talk too much," Muggrish muttered as he pulled his bloodied fists away from the tark to look them over "I merely enjoy having a constant stream of tasks for which I can fulfill, tasks which the Warchief seems oddly hesitant to issue en masse."
"Oh now that is some impressive work ethic there." the Literate One said as he pulled a piece of parchment from his pouch "I had read in the logs from one of your fallen soldiers, now he claimed you had pulled a Caragor's skull out with your bare hands, do you mind if I ask you to confirm or deny this statement?"
"I do... I really do."
Skog gave Dushrat an incredulous look "Is this some form of sick joke?"
The Advisor sighed before turning and narrowing his eyes "Look I know he's not like the crowd you seem to enjoy surrounding yourself with, but if you do this I can guarantee you that he'll figure out whatever information you come across."
The Corruptor grumbled, watching as the scholar pestered the Berserker with various questions one after the other "You forget something, Lapdog." he said as his eyes slid back over to Dushrat "Incentive. For what do I gain from putting time and effort into scouring for information and escorting your bookworm pest?"
His fellow Red-Armored Uruk smiled at that, fully prepared for when this question would come. Dushrat gave a small hum as he held his own helmet in both hands and looked it over "Well, I just thought you would be interested seeing as the 'Dreamer Gate', as you call it ,is capable of so much. Why, if this research were to uncover the secret to recreating the Gate then just think of the opportunity we'd lose."
Skog blinked several times as Dushrat turned his gaze towards him, the sound of Muggrish threatening the Literate One becoming the only vocalizations in the room at the moment. Soon the Corruptor smiled, "I didn't know the Lapdog had become so slippery a fox, we should have a cup of grog later on to celebrate eh?"
SDC Quarry Central Mine
The sound of metallic feet sliding down the slope of a tunnel was followed by that of metal feet clanking together as they enter a larger cavern with their weapons drawn. The squad of Atlesian Knights scanned the area, finding the same thing as they had in the last several sections of this mine... nothing. A few overturned mine carts toppled and tossed about, the tracks battered in some places and actual flooring built into other parts of the mine. It went pretty deep, a testament to the abundance of resources lodged within its walls.
As the AKs searched and evaluated the immediate area, a small group of Atlesian soldiers followed behind them.
"I just don't get it," one of them spoke "we should've found something by now. How deep are we? Not a single hostage or Uruk in here."
"Probably means they held up even deeper." Another soldier, who was the youngest of them by far, said whilst kneeling down and poking around inside one of the carts.
"Yeah but," the first muttered "over a hundred of those things made it in here before they blew the entrance, they dragged in a hell of a lot of hostages and the equipment too. You'd think we'd start finding signs of something this far in."
"You're just impatient," the soldier bringing up the rear accused "not a trait you'd want to have in a combat situation."
"Oh, so what?" the first responded without taking his eyes off the advancing AKs who scouted out the area ahead "You're telling me that you aren't curious as to why the bloodthirsty monsters haven't even planted traps this far into their hidey hole?"
"No," the rear guard insisted, stepping around a large pile of scattered rocks "I'm saying that focusing on the mission at hand should take priority over wild speculating. We already know we haven't found anything yet, reaffirming it does nothing but distract us."
The forward scouts paused at a gate built into the stone walls which seemed to be blocked with broken pieces of mining equipment wedged into its frame and a sabotaged lock. They reported this back to the Atlesians, who halted their own advance and pulled back while the androids focused on getting the door open. The four of them took a break from their hours of walking, the first leaning against a nearby cave wall.
"Do you suppose one of the other groups found anything yet?" the youngest spoke up.
"Probably not," the Rear Guard answered quickly "if they had we'd be notified, even if something were to happen to them."
"But see?" spoke the first as he gestured to his fellow soldiers "If they haven't encountered anything either then where did all the Orcs go?"
"They have to be hiding in here somewhere," the Rear Guard muttered "but hiding that much in a mine alone."
"Impossible, right?" the youth offered
"Not completely," first conceded, as he shifted from his position and began pacing "if they used the equipment to dig deeper they probably could be holed up there."
"But to do all that in the few weeks they had?" the Rear Guard brought up once more
"Well if you have any other suggestions then I'd gladly listen to them." First responded quickly, both of them beginning to quietly come up with causes for this lack of hostile sightings. They were quiet except for the sounds of the AKs working on the door, until the comm officer's helmet radio buzzed. Silent until then, he held out a hand to silence his comrades as he received the message. Muttering replies to the caller his face remained unreadable due to his helmet, but the others took immediate note of the shocked gape his mouth formed as he was relayed information from elsewhere.
"They... found some of the Uruks." he said slowly as he stood straight
"Really, where were they?" First asked
The Rear Guard was right behind him in that regard "Was there any damages taken, what's the size of resistance?"
The comm Officer placed a hand to his helmet for a moment and turned to look at them "They said that they found-"
They were interrupted by the heavy sound of metal colliding with the stone ground, and turned to see the AKs had finished removing the door. The small victory went unnoticed by the group...
...as the room beyond was littered with Uruk corpses.
Vale - Woodlands
A large assembly of Uruks gathered around the clearing, most of them kneeling or sitting down while others stood around the edges. Most were clutching their weapons or their heads attempting to stifle bored yawns as they all listened to their Captain speak. Near the center of the assembly, sitting in front of a large tree was an exceedingly plump Uruk with a messy ponytail and green skin who was seated against a large tree with multiple chunks of its base having been torn out.
"And there it was, bubbling at the corner of 'is hut, a savory aroma wafting up from the pot as I approached." the Captain spoke in his somewhat nasally tone as he licked his fat green lips at the memory "I lifted it off of its cooking pit and grabbed one of the poor sod's cups before dippin' it in. Burned good on the way down but twas missin' something. No compliments to the meat in the broth, you follow me? And then I remembered the chair the stupid filth hit me with, remembered the taste of its wood. Figured 'Why not?' and walked back over to 'is corpse. Broke the worm's chair and dumped it in, I could honestly say the Dark Lord's meals themselves couldn't compare."
The Captain folded his thick arms over his chest and sighed dreamily as he remembered the chair broth he'd partaken in that day, completely ignorant of the bored groans which had steadily been rising in volume. He gave a hefty chuckle to himself as he reached behind his head and tore another chunk of raw bark off the tree, bringing it to his lips and stuffing it into is gob.
"Okay, now this next one's about this stone block that fell out of the Black Gate when they was reinforcing it this one time-" he started as he patted his stomach in a pleased manner.
One Uruk near the back dressed in the torn hood of a white fang member clawed at his miniscule hair as his captain leaped into the next of the plethora of tales about unorthodox meals he'd had. Mumbling his complaints and clicking his nails together as he listened with growing impatience, it did not go unnoticed by those seated near him.
"Oi, be miserable on your own time." A nearby warrior said with a grumble "With all the beast killin we's been doin, I'd think a true Uruk would be able to stand a bit of bad tale tellin'"
"I ain't no fake." the hooded Uruk seethed before patting the hilt of his sword "I's as true a warrior as they come, which is why I get a little heated when I sit around doing nothing for hours! I need to kill something soon else I might start swinging prematurely."
"Oh whine whine cry cry," the other warrior said condescendingly "that'll get you a battle real quick. If Captain Ashgarn wants ya ta listen to his droning then you'll shut up and listen."
The hooded Uruk narrowed his eyes and straightened up a bit as the other warrior smirked at his agitation "Oh, I suppose only a cowardly shrakh like ya-self would be perfectly fine lazing about tellin' boring stories."
"Keep talkin' like that an' I'll show ya just how cowardly I can be." his quarry said confidently
The bored Uruks around them almost unanimously turned their attention from their still prattling leader to the rising tension between the two Warriors, already chants for violence broke out through the crowd as the two began running hands along the hilts of their weapons. Eventually, their leader took note of his stolen audience and frowned at said realization before pushing himself up to his feet with a grumble.
"Admit it! Only reason your perfectly fine lyin about not killin tarks is because your scared of 'em!" the Hooded Uruk cackled as the audience followed suit.
His opponent glanced about, annoyed at the lack of support from his battle brothers before grunting out "Scared of a Pinkskin?" he said before growing another smirk "That tark clothing must be making you as dumb as one of 'em if you be lettin' thoughts like that go travelling through ya head!"
"Boys!" Ashgarn interrupted as he pushed an archer out of the way on his approach "I am disappointed in the lack of appreciation for the culinary arts I'm seein' here. You lot do know that separated from your kin, surviving out 'ere in the wilds, some of these meals very well could save your sorry lives."
The two warriors kept throwing threatening glances at each other as the crowd reluctantly quieted down for their plump leader, who wiped a non-existant tear from his green cheek in false sadness "But the young will be young I suppose, no appreciation for the finer things I can tell. So just tell me who started this little spat?
The noise from the crowd ceased at that and the hooded Uruk immediately shoved his quarry in front of their leader.
"Gah! Stupid glob!" the shoved Uruk whined as he spun to face his heavily clothed competitor, poking a thumb to his chest as he exclaimed "It wasn't me cryin' and moanin over something so pathetic as tellin-"
He stopped once his leader placed a hand on his shoulder and the warrior turned to look at him. His gluttonous Captain gave him a small smile before his jaw unhinged itself and shot forward. It was a sight to behold for sure, for all the Uruks in attendance, watching a mouth stretch like that. Teeth cleaved through the warrior's aura almost instantly on their way together, and when the Captain's teeth collided he pulled away leaving a nearly headless Uruk corpse to fall to the ground. Their Captain stepped back a moment and placed a hand to his mouth as he chewed quite noisily, keeping himself from spilling any of his impromptu meal.
Letting out a sigh of pleasure, the Plump Uruk sauntered back over to his previous seat while raising a finger in the air "Now this reminds me of another dish I had to make while trackin' some hobbit filth."
The crowd was sufficiently satisfied with that small bit of spontaneous cannibalism, silently turning to listen to more of the Captain's next story. The Hooded Uruk heaved a sigh of relief, thankful for his own quick thinking. He sat down once more before being immediately nudged by a nearby berserker.
"Nice one out there, Uthug" the larger Uruk whispered, not willing to incur their Captain's wrath once more.
"This is damned ridiculous." Uthug muttered as he glared at their leader, tugging at the sleeves of his pilfered hood with his nails out of anticipation "His stomach's out of control, Ashgarn was a hungry bastard back in Mordor but ever since that diseased rodent taught him that trick he's just been eating everything."
"You're right." the Berserker conceded with a sigh "But you got to admit, that trick was kind of terrifyin' last time he tried it."
"Couldn't even catch the tarks in it though." the Hooded Uruk replied with a groan as he placed his palm into his hand "I swear its like that diseased shrakh taught him a shoddy technique on purpose."
"No I didn't."
"How can you be..." he paused, realizing the berserker had not responded to his previous statement. Turning, the warrior came face to face with a grotesque monstrosity. Bubol flashed a sharp-toothed grin as the two Uruks immediately scrambled away from him. The Archer stood at full height and spread his arms wide as the rest of the assembly took note of him.
"Ashy, good to see you and the boys so close to claiming my little pets!" Bubol cooed as he waltzed through the crowd towards their Captain, who got back to his feet and tilted his head as he started sniffing the air.
"Likewise," Ashgarn said as he tried pinpointing the scent "thought you wanted us to handle this on our own? What's this surprise appearance all about?"
"Aw, I didn't want to miss out on some down time with my most tantalizing acquaintance ever." the diseased archer said as he walked around Ashgarn and tossed a sore covered arm around the larger Captain's shoulder "I'd be all by my lonesome while's you and your plump self go round up my missing toys, so how's that little task been goin' anyway sweetness?"
Though his followers grimaced at the sight of the growth covered Uruk getting close to their leader, Ashgarn seemed ignorant to the immense pus-filled lumps pressed up against him. In fact, Ashgarn actually seemed humored by Bubol's blatant fetishizing of his weight.
"Well, we have reason to believe the hybrid filth has taken residence in a nearby village." the gluttonous Uruk stated, gesturing in the direction of the village as he spoke "We've sent several hunters ahead to confirm or deny these sayings. Once they send word back we either assault the village or try finding them again, I'm pretty sure they're hiding there, I just don't want to waste time raiding a town the targets ain't around."
"Oh Ashy!" Bubol chittered in between cackles as he practically attached himself to the Eater's arm "So thoughtful indeed, wonder if that brain of yours is anywhere near as deliciously big as this glorious... round... gut you have!"
The Hooded warrior covered his mouth to hold back the urge to retch at the implication, and from the looks of his fellow battle brothers the feeling was quite mutual. There was just something about watching a disgusting lunatic get as comfy as possible with the one they served that got stomachs turning in all the worst ways.
"Yeah yeah," Ashgarn said with a wave of his hand before pulling away from Bubol's overly clingy grasp and stepping close to the semi-headless corpse of the Uruk he'd munched on earlier "so how'd things go with Pug?"
The sickly Uruk pouted at the lack of physical contact before waving a hand dismissively "Wasn't there, one of his followers had to take the delivery off my claws."
"Wasn' there?" Ashgarn asked as he pulled one of the body's arms off with his bare hands, turning back to the diseased Uruk he bit off one of the fingers before gesturing towards him with the limb "I thought he was still settling in his den, he's gone already?
"Mhm," The Diseased Archer nodded whilst placing one claw to his own hip, tracing the holes Ashgarn had torn off the nearby tree with his other hand "took his Mongers out hunting I heard, guess it was just wishful thinking expectin' him to stick around to keep me company."
Uthug and the Berserker shared a look, mutual unease marking their faces at the idea of that particular Uruk wandering around 'hunting'.
"I see you'd procured quite the snack there, my sweet." Bubol commented whilst point a sharp nail towards the corpse at Ashgarn's feet
"Hm?" the Glutton looked down for a moment before shrugging, swallowing his current mouthful before replying "Oh, he just caused a tad bit of an interruption during one of my stories, if you couldn't tell I was quite miffed at the gall shown."
"Hm?" Bubol hummed in an exceedingly pleased tone as he placed a finger to his sickly lips and grinned "Did you have to make an example of him perhaps, hurt him in all the right ways sweetness?"
Ashgarn shrugged "Pretty much just gave him a chewing."
Bubol gave a low grumble at that particular wording "Sounds enticing."
"It really isn't, fulfilling maybe but not really enticing." the Glutton turned back to the corpse and tapped a foot against it as he took another bite out of the limb.
"Speaking of enticing, I'd like a word in private." Bubol said as he raised a hand and curled one of his bony fingers slowly "Mind following for a second, my sweet?"
Ashgarn shrugged, turning away from the corpse and tossing the severed arm back onto it "Very well old friend, feel free to take the lead."
"Glorious!" the festering Uruk cackled before raising his left arm, the one with the arm mounted crossbow, and fired the grappling hook directly into the treetops. A second later the archer was immediately yanked upwards. Ashgarn blinked a bit before groaning and walking to the spot Bubol was previously standing in before yelling up "You know I'm not one for climbing, it might take me a while to-!"
Ashgarn was silenced by the Grappling hook which launched downward into his mouth midsentence, the metal claw grabbed hold of his thick tongue immediately. The fat captain only had seconds to realize what was happening before he was yanked through the treetops at intense speed. The unrelenting pull of Bubol's gadget jerked the eater far quicker than what one would expect for one as heavy as him, he screamed the entire way. Ashgarn smashed through several branches on his way up, overwhelming force cracking the thick wood upon impact as he continued ascending.
Eventually the top of the tree Bubol was in came into sight, including the underside of the branch the archer himself was perched upon. The glutton braced for impact, only for the pull to lessen to nothing as he approached. Now directly under the branch, he saw Bubol peak over the side with his usual grin widening at the sight of Ashgarn's suspended form.
"Oh, the sight of you strung up gets me riled in all of the good ways, sweetness." Bubol said whilst running his inky tongue along his small but sharp teeth.
Ashgarn rolled his eyes before reaching up and grabbing hold of the branch, once his grip was secured the grappling hook released his tongue and returned to Bubol's bow. As the plumper captain pulled himself up a bit, the archer nimbly leaped to another branch. Bubol crouched a bit with a smile once Ashgarn was properly clinging to the branch, the larger Uruk experimentally licking the branch he was hanging on and considering the taste.
"Now that I have you all to myself," Bubol said before pointing in the distance "take a gander."
Ashgarn followed the smaller Uruk's finger, finding nothing but trees and occasional mountaintop in the distance "I fail to see what you find so intriguing there."
"The City of Vale! Aptly named indeed." Bubol laughed "That tark city ain't too far from here, I can see it easily."
The All-Eater followed Bubol's gaze again, despite Bubol's claims Ashgarn could only see the distant lands laid out before them. Probably a difference in eyesight, even a proud Uruk like himself could admit that there was no way his sight could compare to that of a bow master like Bubol.
"So fun this realm is," Bubol said whilst supposedly looking over Vale City's distant form "I can only imagine how much fun it'd be when charging the streets of a kingdom such as that. Blasting apart tarks big and small, left and right, playing around and such. You and me, sweetness, we'll do it someday... get all the other blokes together and bring a little more Mordor to this realm."
Bubol paused a bit, looking over the weapon on his arm. It unfolded into its bow form and back several times whilst he admired it "Such entertainment wouldn't be possible back in Mordor. This little treat should've blown me arm off dozens of times over, but this realm was kind enough to share its bounty with us. That Aura stuff has made this experience so much more... magical for me."
At the mention of Aura, Ashgarn grumbled a little. The archer picked up on it, turning to face the glutton with a questioning smirk, prompting him to explain.
"That technique ya showed me," the Eater mumbled "its pretty taxing on my jaw I'll tell you. Feels like a duo of Caragors are pulling on my lips, stretching em out as they do. But that ain't even the most, uh... concerning point."
"Go on, my sweet, anything you say is delightful either way!"
"Its the whole... Devouring thing," Ashgarn reached an arm down to pat his gut "every time I do it... no matter how much I eat at the time... I feel even more hungry afterwards."
Bubol tilted his head to the side for a moment, seeing the obvious distress crossing the face of his little Ashy. With a smirk he stood up tall on the branch, drawing the Eater's attention "The natives call these things semblances, odd choice of words but I think I can get used to a label such as that." he said whilst gesturing towards his fellow Captain "Anyway, most of 'em claim these semblance thingies are unique to each and every being who can use 'em. Meaning mine is far different from yours, and that none could ever recreate it. Maybe get something slightly similar, but yours is specifically yours. Take pride in what you could do better than anyone else, being an All-Eater ain't nothing to shake a leg at."
"Hm, even so, what about the-"
"No no my sweet, let Bubby finish." Bubol interrupted with a smirk before continuing "This semblance thing is just like any other ability, sweetness. If you keep doing it, it'll get easier over time. Ever since I learned about this stuff I been using it non-stop, allowed me to kill things I always had to backstab beforehand, helped me survived things that would kill Uruk three times my size, and I've only gotten better in the time we been spendin' out here. I feel great dumplin', better than I've felt in decades! So let me pose a little query to you. Despite the issue ya body has with these new bonuses, can you really say it don't feel good?"
Ashgarn narrowed his eyes, "And by feel good you mean-?"
"Isn't it pleasing gobblin' up any shrakh planning on givin' you a hassle?!" Bubol reiterated excitedly
"...very."
"I do believe my case has been rested." the diseased Uruk folded his arms across his pustule covered chest, just as voices called down from below. Ashgarn couldn't see properly from his position, but Bubol glanced down for only a moment before looking back up with a smile.
"It would seem one of your little hunters just got back, Ashy." he said with a grin "Should we go see if there's gonna be a nice raid today?"
The glutton nodded, prompting Bubol to clap enthusiastically before leaping from the branch. The larger Captain looked down at the sheer distance he was from the ground, concern only briefly filling his mind before he paused to think. Eventually, he loosened his grasp and leaped down as well.
Below, Bubol leaped down from branch to branch and then tree to tree before landing right back in the middle of the war band once more. They immediately gave a small but noticeable amount of distance to him whilst he stretched. Before he could call for the hunter currently speaking to the only berserker Ashgarn seemed to have in his Warband, the sound of snapping wood drew his attention back up as Ashgarn smashed through the treetops and into the ground. He was still for a moment, before slowly pushing himself up from the ground.
"See what I mean?" Bubol asked as he watched Ashgarn get back to his feet "Now what Uruk do you know who'd be able to survive a fall like that without the Auras and such?"
"My brothers perhaps." Ashgarn mentioned while rubbing the back of his neck "Can we just take a couple of steps away from the camp next time you want a heart-to heart?"
"Excuse me Captain," a scrawny hunter called from the side, drawing the attention of both the Diseased and the All-Eater "hate to interrupt but we spotted the hybrid filth in the village. If we wanna box 'em in before they make a run for it, we should get goin' as soon as possible."
Ashgarn sighed, picking up a tree branch he'd broken off during his violent descent and taking a bite from it "Very well, come on boys! We got ourselves an old-fashioned raid on our hands here, get moving!"
Spurred by the confirmation of soon-to be violence, the Glutton's soldiers immediately cheered and began moving en masse in the direction of the village. As he watched, Ashgarn felt someone slap him on the shoulder before Bubol walked ahead with a sly grin.
"Oh I expect a good show from you, Ashy," Bubol chittered as he sauntered along with the rest of Ashgarn's Uruks "been too long since I was there for a nice little raiding."
The Glutton shrugged as he began walking with them "Then I suppose we'll have to try not to disappoint you then, eh?"
Near the Village of Yires
The Beowolf leaped over toppled trees and through shrubbery, snarls emanating from its bony maw as it tracked its prey: A single, dark Faunus who leaped from branch to branch in the treetops above. Its red eyes locked onto her form as the creature maneuvered through the various plants in its way. Spotting a sloped rock ahead, the Beowolf growled as it sped up. The form had just landed on another branch as the Beowolf jumped onto the rock and ran along it before leaping at her. She took note of the approaching growl and darted from the branch as the Beowolf's claws severed it from the rest of the tree.
She landed on her feet as the Beowolf impacted with the ground behind her, scrambling to its claws and locking eyes with her again before she took off once more. Irritated at the chase this particular prey was putting on, the Beowolf roared as it darted after her. She leaped through some bushes, and once it followed her out it found they were now in a grassy plain that ran alongside a trail. The Grimm could remember this trail instantly, it had attacked travelers here with its pack in the past. Before it could think too heavily on their location, it spotted its prey apparently making a break for the trail. Seeing that she was slowing down, the Grimm licked at its sharp teeth before redoubling in its pursuit. The Faunus paused and turned towards the Beowolf as it rapidly closed distance, her form shimmering suspiciously as she appeared to go still.
Movement from the corner of its vision registered to the Grimm, but the Faunus was nearly within its grasp. It lunged forward, swinging its claws towards the frozen Faunus only for her body to dissipate as they connected. The Grimm didn't have much time to question the sudden lack of dead Faunus in its grasp, because once her form disappeared the bright human behind it was revealed. Still mid-lunge, the Beowolf's momentum carried it directly into this new human girl's fist. A blast sounded out before the now dead Grimm tumbled to the ground.
"All right guys!" a young voice called out from the nearby tree line "Great teamwork there!"
The girl glanced to the side, spotting another young girl in heavily red attire standing up from one of the bushes, and waved at her "Thanks sis, Blake did most of the work though."
"Seriously?" another female voice called out as its white-themed owner stood up next to the girl in red "Two hours spent finding a Beowolf around here and that was the oh so impressive technique you've been bragging about?"
"Oh come on Weiss," the girl in red nudged her teammate "I think they looked pretty cool!"
Weiss shifted away from her a bit as she folded her arms over her chest a bit "Look, I'm more than happy you decided to add another maneuver to our arsenal Yang, but when you mentioned it I had pictured it to be... well... something else."
"What are you saying?" Yang narrowed her eyes suspiciously
"Well, I just think having Blake go leaping and jumping about teasing Grimm into a single punch may be just a bit impractical." Weiss restrained herself from sounding as annoyed as she really was.
"Impractical?"
"I'm just saying that it only works if your opponent isn't aware of: A. Blake's semblance B. Your position C. any of the warnings they'd most certainly receive from even a single comrade positioned anywhere else."
"Pfft, come on Princess, you're thinking too deeply into it." Yang placed her hands on her hips "It's just supposed to be a cool move done by cool kids for cool results, right Ruby?"
Her younger sister in red stepped out of the bushes with their Faunus teammate, nodding her head as she admitted "It was pretty cool to watch, Weiss."
"Exactly." Yang clapped before gesturing to the dissipating Beowolf "Doesn't have to revolutionize anything, just look epic in the heat of battle."
Yang placed a hand on Weiss's shoulder before gesturing around them "Imagine being out on the battlefield, cutting through entire packs of Grimm one at a time, turning your royal head and seeing us perform the legendary Team RWBY exclusive attack... Fetch."
"We never agreed on that name."
"Fate agreed on it Blake...fate." Yang said whilst wiping an imaginary tear from her eyes.
"Ugh Ruby," Weiss turned her gaze towards the Red-head "please tell your sister the scenario would have to be specific to the nth degree in order to make that attack useful."
"Sorry Weiss," Ruby said solemnly as she clutched a fist to her heart "she had me at Team RWBY exclusive."
"Alright!" Yang said as she walked over and clapped Ruby on the shoulder
"Hm, guess our Leader's will was overcome." Blake commented as she stood next to Weiss "What exactly did you expect the maneuver to be anyway?"
"I don't know," Weiss admitted "I guess I kind of expected it to be something more suitable for human opponents, for the tournament."
"We could probably still use it on people, if that's what your thinking about."
"Not too many threats in the tournament who'd fall for something like that." Weiss turned towards her Faunus teammate
"You'd be surprised what people can fall for." Yang pointed out before sticking her thumb towards Ruby "When she was seven I told her that dust rounds were actually made out of-"
Ruby gasped, immediately clamping a hand to her sister's mouth "Yang, come on! Just mentioning that makes my teeth hurt. Can we just get back to walking?"
She glanced to both Weiss and Blake, who gave each other looks before following the sisters to the trail. As soon as they began travelling along it, Yang leaned back towards Weiss.
"Hey cheer up princess," she said "so you don't think our revolutionary new tactic is A grade material. Doesn't have to bring the mood down, we didn't come here for moodiness."
"I am not down."
"You do sound pretty down." Ruby commented from the front
"Quiet you." Weiss huffed before glancing off to the side "How far is it to Yires Village anyway?"
"Eh, can't be more than ten minutes." the brawler stated as she gazed up at the sky
"And you're positive we didn't need a map?"
"Pfft," the blonde waved it off before nodding towards Ruby "Rubes and me have been to this place plenty of times, Weiss, its literally just a straight shot down this path."
"Yeah!" Ruby added, though Weiss still seemed a bit skeptical
"I've been there before," Blake spoke up "its pretty much exactly how they say it."
"Very well," Weiss conceded before smirking "then I suppose you'll have to prepare to lose that little wager, hm?"
Ruby and Yang turned back simultaneously with glints of challenge behind their eyes "Just you wait, Weiss." the leader spoke up "the second you taste Mr. Malt's masterful Marble cake, you'll be a changed girl."
"And when it can't even compare to the fine desserts I've already had," Weiss pointed out "then you two will most certainly be eating those words."
"I don't know, Weiss." Blake muttered, giving the heiress a side glance as they walked "They seem pretty sure about this."
"They were pretty sure we'd have to deal with a lot more Beowolves on the way as well," Weiss said with a smirk "see how that turned out?"
"Nah we weren't pretty sure of that." Ruby insisted as she waved it off "I just said that the last time Yang and I were at Yires there was a pack of Beowolves wandering in the nearby woodlands that everyone talked about."
"Didn't actually seem 'em," Yang chipped in as she sighed " And we even went out looking for them. So in the end we were able to kick back and relax, I'm telling you they have a sauna that could make you look years younger, its pretty much heaven."
"Oh, are you pretty sure about that as well?" Weiss asked as the team crested a small hill the path traveled along.
"Well, actually..." Yang's response died in her throat as she spotted something in the distance that the others paused at as well.
Smoke, smoke trails were rising up in the distance.
Weiss blinked "Tell me that's not-"
"Yep," Yang answered
"And it couldn't be coming from-"
"Mhm," confirmed Ruby before looking at her teammates and gesturing forwards "come on Team!"
In unison the girls raced to get to Yires, hopeful that they wouldn't be too late to help those who resided there.
Yires Village
"Why only one?" Bubol asked as he stood tall upon the tiled rooftop, eyeing the wounded man who was desperately struggling to keep on his feet "I thought you warrior types traveled in packs of four?"
The human didn't respond, only gripped the musket in his hands tightly while trying to catch his breath.
"So is that like... only for the academy folk?" Bubol placed a claw to his chin as he gestured with his wrist-mounted crossbow "Was expecting the rest of your posse to charge me at any second!"
"A-are you going to keep talking," the young man paused to take a breath before raising his musket "or are you gonna fight?"
Bubol gave a small hum at that, "Well gee, didn't know you wanted me so badly, you delicious little thing!" he laughed before charging towards him.
The raid was under way, Uruks dragging people from their homes towards the large building in the center which seemed to serve as a meeting hall. Some of the villagers tried fighting back, but the ones who had any combat knowledge were either already defeated or being overwhelmed. Uruk Archers had scaled on top of buildings and were shooting at any humans or Faunus they saw, calling out potential escapees to their comrades on the ground. Inside a mason worker's home a shield-barer was standing by as two Warriors took turns ramming the locked door behind which they knew a family was hiding. A berserker was dragging two resistant Faunus brothers towards the meeting hall whilst they clawed and beat at his arms to no avail.
And in a bakery, a baker was fending off a hunter whilst Ashgarn perused the selection. Using nothing but a baking pan as a shield, the chunky man deflected jabs of the spear in a panic while trying to find some way around the violent creature. Ashgarn was behind the Counter, looking over the cakes on display while the Hunter tried to force the pan out of the way. Finding the small little see-through door to the display case, Ashgarn licked his lips as he opened it and reached for a thick slice of some cake he'd never had before. Stepping away for a moment, he took a bite only to immediately make a curious face as he looked at the slice in his hand.
"Tastes nice," he commented as the Baker threw the Hunter over the counter and made a break for the door "could do better if it had a hint of Human thumb."
The Hunter recovered quickly, launching a spear towards the fleeing baker who turned just in time to catch the projectile to the shoulder. It bounced off his admittedly flimsy looking aura, but the force tossed him to the ground anyway. As the Hunter ran to pin him, Ashgarn removed more pastries from the display case.
"Hm, this one could do with more cat-lung." the Captain muttered before looking over to the two grappling on the ground "Oi, any of your neighbors got any cats?"
"Captain, please!" the hunter yelled as he wrapped his arms around the Human's face, holding on as he flailed about wildly.
"Oh quit whining, Nakra." the Gluttonous Uruk mumbled as he walked over "this pig doesn't look like he could walk up a flight of stairs much less fight of a trained and battle-hardened member of the Dark Lord's army."
"He's three times my size!"
"So's a Caragath, I saw you take down one o' them before." Ashgarn said before stuffing another pastry into his mouth
"Sir, there's a big difference between a sly, blood-thirsty monster and a three hundred pound panicked animal!"
The Captain narrowed his eyes, then swallowed the rest of the pastry "You tryin' to be funny?"
"No sir I'm-!" Nakra couldn't finish, as the baker managed to wedge a thick leg between them and shove the scrawny hunter off him. Immediately getting to his feet, the Baker turned to run for the door when a thick object collided with the side of his skull and sent him tumbling back to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
The Hunter groaned as he got to his feet, smirking at the sight of the downed human "Haha!" he yelled before turning to his Captain, who was wielding a massive bone as a weapon "Nice swing boss."
"Runs in the family." Ashgarn commented offhandedly as he hefted the treats he carried in one arm and walked out of the bakery "Be sure to toss 'em in with the others."
As he walked off, the Hunter processed what he said before glancing down at the large form of the Baker.
Ashgarn walked towards the meeting hall, in front the majority of the raiding party were milling about.
"What are you lot doing?" their Captain asked as he made his way over
"We got the dirty hybrids and had some of the boys take them back to camp whilst we rounded up the other tarks." a grey-skinned berserker muttered while nodding towards the meeting hall "I personally smashed up quite a bit of Pinkskin toys, got half of these buildings burning down so you know."
Murmurs of agreement came from the crowd of Uruks, a Shield Barer raised his spear shouting "Pretty sure I got at least six tarks on this beast in one."
"Impressive, Impressive." An archer commented as he climbed down from the roof of a wrecked residence "But I got a running little hybrid right through the eye, so who's in need of a fully intact skeleton?!"
"How about you lot get the rest of the prisoners ready for transport," Ashgarn suggested "I adore the idea of sticking around to watch this place burn to a crisp, but we are on a bit of a timescale."
The Grey Skinned berserker stepped forward "I shall oversee the preparations, Captain." he said dutifully as he stood straight, trying to look respectful even though he had an easy foot of height on his captain "Under my guidance, I believe we can have them ready to go in minutes."
"Very well, Tuka," the All-Eater said with a knowing look "feel free to snap the necks of anyone givin' you a hassle."
Tuka nodded and led several Uruks into the church, after which the body of a human landed amongst them. Confusion turned to recognition immediately once Bubol jumped down next to the corpse "A wonderful toss ya gave me, my sweet!" the Diseased Lunatic told the body in a chipper tone as he skipped past it towards Ashgarn
"I take it you had fun with our wanna-be warrior over here?" Ashgarn walked over to the young man's form and patted at his pockets as he spoke.
"His weapon had all the length an Uruk like me could ask for," Bubol said in mock sadness "unfortunately it seems he had not a clue as to what to do with it."
"I can see that," Ashgarn muttered as he hefted the modified musket in question before tossing it to the crowd "how much food these globs had?"
"Should last till we get back to the camp." Uthug pointed out from nearby as he pulled his tattered hood back. As he did that, Bubol slid over to the plump captain once more.
"Grand bit o' destruction today," the Bow Master commented as he wrapped an arm around Ashgarn's back and gestured around them with his free hand "haven't seen a raid that's gone this smoothly in a while."
"Agreed, usually they're expecting us." Ashgarn sighed "These guys probably woulda lasted longer if more of 'em had joined the battle, would've given me more of a range of flavors as well."
"Aw, sad there's not too much Softskin variety for ya?" Bubol guessed, pointing a warty claw towards the small pile of treats Ashgarn held in his arms "Seems like ya found something tasty to enjoy anyway!"
"They're good," the All-Eater admitted "I'll probably have to get the recipes from the baker before we hand 'em over to Pug."
The idea of being able to make these delicious pastries whenever he pleased brought a smile to Ashgarn's face, a smile which Bubol mimicked to a much less degree "Oh, you gonna fatten ya'self up even more for me?" the Archer asked giddily "That might even be too much for me to handle!"
Groans of disgust rose from the crowd, but Ashgarn chose to ignore the comment in favor of eating another pastry. As he tasted the sweet flavors once more, Ashgarn barely noticed Bubol suddenly stepping away and glancing about. Quirking an eyebrow, the larger Captain was about to question the Diseased Uruk on what seemed to be troubling him when he heard the gunfire. Along with most of the gathered Uruks, Ashgarn turned towards the meeting hall where flashes of gunfire could be seen through the building's small windows.
"Someone's muckin' with our catch!" Ashgarn shouted before pausing to lick some left over pastry from his fingertips, pointing towards the door "Make 'em suffer for-"
He didn't finish his command, as a fist connected with his face sending him tumbling into a nearby seller's stall. His aura had soaked up the brunt of it, but tumbling through the air did rattle his noggin' a bit, luckily he managed to keep hold of the stolen goods tucked away in his arm. Shaking his head to cure the daze he was in, Ashgarn glanced up to see a blonde human pulling back her fist after knocking him on his feet.
"That... was for Mr. Malts." she said as she assumed a battle stance, pausing to mention "And because it felt awesome, but mostly for Mr. Malts."
Another defender? Ashgarn thought, rolling his eyes as he realized she'd placed herself in the middle of the crowd of Uruks.
"Ya seem to have outnumbered yourself, girl." the All-Eater said as he rose to his feet and plucked another pastry from the pile "I usually have a soft spot for those bloodthirsty enough to ignore common sense, but not when they interrupt my meal. Eh, no matter. You can repay me by being my main course, I'll turn you into a dish worth talkin' about."
"Hm, never thought I'd here that as a threat and not a come on." the human mentioned before shrugging, "First time for everything I guess."
Ashgarn called out to his fellow Uruk raiders, who surged towards her just as one of the warrior's was blasted off his feet from a round coming from the side. It hadn't come from the blonde girl, Ashgarn realized, who had already begun blasting Uruk Warriors with those golden gauntlets on her fists. His suspicion was confirmed when another Uruk got blasted off his feet by another one, the warrior's Aura flashing as more of his brothers were fired upon by the unknown assailant.
From a nearby rooftop Ruby was biting her lip as she tried to poke holes in the crowd of otherworldly raiders. This wasn't how their trip was supposed to be, they were supposed to be relaxing together during a team trip. Laughing over a sweet treat, rubbing how inhumanly good they were in Weiss's face. Having some down time before they got back to training for the Tournament.
Normally raiders usually kept towards villages farther away from the City, unwilling to risk Huntsmen stumbling upon their heinous deeds. But one look at these guys proved they were nothing like the raiders they'd seen before. Orcs, that's what both Blake and Yang had called them, citing the monsters from fantasy stories. Ruby had to agree, though Weiss had insisted they call the bloodthirsty pillagers something other than a name from childhood fairy tales. She could offer nothing else that could fit as well, so she begrudgingly accepted their title for them.
They knew the Orcs were holding most of the villagers in the community center, smack dab in the middle of Yires. With little time to ponder the absurdity of taking on fantasy villains, Ruby had insisted they quickly devise a plan to get the innocents out of the city and question them later before this much negativity drew in Grimm. She considered the sparse number of the Grimm they'd encountered on the way, but she wasn't about to bank on that. The plan was simple, as the stealthiest of the four, Blake would infiltrate the center with Weiss ready to provide assistance if necessary. If things went up in smoke then Ruby and Yang were to intercept the main group of Orcs and keep them distracted.
They could probably handle this many raiders if they worked together, it was the hostages that threw a wrench in there. As soon as they were safe, they could defeat the rest of the Orcs and chase them out of Yires. But that was the problem, once they were safe Weiss was supposed to come out and help them deal with the crowd. She and Ruby were the best suited for large crowds like this, and Yang and Blake would be able to Defend the Community Center until the raiders were chased off. But neither of their teammates were leaving the building, leaving Ruby more nervous than she should be.
It didn't affect her aim too much though, she still managed to hit her targets, the Orcs were like thugs they'd dealt with before, only more resilient. Seriously, as if the shock that they all seemed to have Aura wasn't enough, they had much more of it than any average street thug. It was taking more than one or two shots from her precious Crescent Rose to incapacitate one. Firing another round, she noticed the apparent leader seeking out her location. Seems he figured out what was going on, but his continuous eating made him seem far less aware than it should. Not to mention the sight of him stuffing his fat mouth with Mr. Malts's prided baked goods made Ruby inch her scope towards him.
Before it was suddenly obstructed by sickly flesh, she leaned away from her scope quickly to spy the other Orc of note crouched on her pride and joy. His appearance had drawn looks of disgust from each of them when they'd initially spotted him, but seeing his diseased form on her baby instead filled Ruby with annoyance and anger as they locked eyes.
"Nice toy." he cooed before shooting a grapple hook which latched onto Ruby's corset, he rolled backwards off Crescent Rose pulling her up and over and flinging her off the building. She managed to orientate herself as the grapple hook detached and raced back to him as he righted himself and fired at her several more times. She immediately used her semblance, diving down out of the way of the bolts in a flurry of rose petals. But as she slowed down she turned only to find another bolt already closing in, raising Crescent Rose, she blocked the bolt only to be thrown off balance. Her landing was a bit more stumble heavy as a result, but she was now in the thick of things with her sister.
Bubol landed next to Ashgarn as Yang helped Ruby to her feet, "Looks like we gots ourselves some tasty young heroes here, eh?" the diseased Uruk turned towards the larger Captain, who stuffed another handful of pastries into his mouth before answering.
"As a culinary connoisseur," Ashgarn placed a hand to his chest "I'll be the judge of taste."
"You okay, sis?" Yang asked as she let Ruby go, the smaller girl brushing herself off before hefting crescent rose again.
"Yeah, he just snuck up on me." she admitted ashamedly
"Sisters?" Ashgarn picked up on that little tidbit, a smirk growing on his face as the remaining Uruks gathered around them again "Haven't made sibling dishes in a while, always go together better in a nice stew than while still alive."
Before they could answer, the pustule covered Uruk gave a high pitched laugh as his eyes traveled towards the red-head's scythe "You planning on cuttin' me with that delicious looking blade there?" he asked before giving a groan and wiping some saliva from his lips "Oh~ I can't wait!"
The All-Eater's jaw unhinged as he shoveled the rest of the sweets into his gob, audibly swallowing before hefting the massive bone up over his shoulder.
"I call the one with the big blade!" Bubol cheered before charging, bow raised.
Ruby spun Crescent Rose as the archer fired, deflecting bolt after bolt before angling the barrel in his direction and firing. The diseased lunatic slid underneath the discharge, skidding past Ruby who whipped her scythe back just in time to intercept a slash from Bubol's bow. She immediately followed with a cleave of her own which he slid out of the way of just before firing several more bolts. Ruby leaped out of the way of the blasts, noticing an incoming blade and leaning out of its way as another Uruk stabbed at her. Pulling the trigger, Ruby's scythe came swinging back with enough force to throw him away, but the tip of it lodged into the shield of another Uruk near him. The Shield-barer stabbed at her with his spear, prompting her to back out of the way before tearing her precious weapon out and spinning with it. The back of its blade smashed into the shield-barer's face and sent him stumbling just as Bubol leaped by firing off another bolt.
Yang seemed to be having a slightly easier time, dodging the heavy swings of Ashgarn's bone (A pun she would save for a much less crucial moment) she gave a quick jab to his gut before socking him in the jaw with her other fist. He stumbled back clutching his mouth, but before she could follow up two raiders jumped in front of him. The first one swung his club faster than she'd anticipated, prompting her to go from offense to defense as she raised both of her arms and felt the club bounce off Ember Celica. As he stumbled back she lurched forward and bashed him in the skull, aura flashing he slammed into the other Uruk's chest as Ashgarn shook off the throb in his jaw and caught sight of her bringing her elbow down on the second attacker.
As the two fell, Ashgarn frowned as she leaped towards him fist raised. Calming himself, the Captain took a breath before lunging forward as his jaw unhinged. Yang's attack was halted almost immediately as the Captain's teeth clamped down on her gauntlet, the sickening feeling of being caught in the Uruk's mouth causing her to wince as he unsuccessfully tried chewing through her weapon. Cocking her other gauntlet, Yang blasted him twice point-blank in the face before she suddenly felt herself being lifted off the ground. With a roar, Ashgarn swung her before opening his mouth, sending her flying into one of the meeting hall's walls.
"That's the way you do it, Ashy!" Bubol called as he leaped out of Crescent Rose's range once more, several more Uruks charging Ruby as the Diseased placed a claw to his lips and glanced between the two sisters.
The blonde pushed herself away from the wall and angrily shook the disgusting saliva from her hand just before glancing up to see a maw charging her, she jumped to the side just barely before Ashgarn's unnaturally large jaw tore a chunk of the wall out. He didn't waste time in turning towards her, swallowing, and charging bone raised.
Yang stepped back out of the way of the swing and went in for a follow-up attack when her hand was suddenly yanked back mid-swing. She turned quickly to spy a metal claw clinging to her gauntlet, its cord trailing back to Bubol, who smiled at her.
"Big mistake!" She said before gripping onto the cord with her other hand and pulling Bubol off of his feet. Swinging him through the air, she pulled the cord in the stumbling Ashgarn's direction when suddenly it went taut. Turning she saw Bubol's bow retracting its cord, essentially pulling him through the air towards her. Yang had just enough time to step to the side as the blades of Bubol's bow slid right past her. He tumbled to a crouch before leaping at her again, the cord attached to her wrist dragging her into the next slash before she could recover. Bubol landed right passed her again as her Aura dulled the attack. Anticipating the same move, the brawler swung her fist behind her and let loose a shotgun round in his direction before he could pull himself to her again.
The diseased Uruk's eyes flashed a slight green as he swung his wrist bow up once more and let loose a bolt which connected with the shotgun round mid air, exploding between them. The Grapple claw suddenly released Yang's gauntlet as it zipped back to its wielder, prompting her to prepare a volley of shotgun blasts when she heard the footstep behind her. She spun just in time to raise both arms as Ashgarn's bone club smashed into them with more force than she'd expected, the swing forced both her arms to the side as Ashgarn reached for her with his free hand.
His sudden attempt to grab her was thwarted by a sniper round impacting with his chest and tossing him to the side once more, Yang spun to see Ruby give her a thumbs up before turning into a mass of roses and zooming out of the way of more of Bubol's bolts.
Taking a breath, Yang zeroed in on the wart covered Archer and prepared to fire upon him while he was distracted when suddenly the Meeting Hall's doors were thrown open.
All the combatants paused as a Grey Berserker tumbled out and onto the ground, behind him two figures emerged from inside. Weiss and Blake, looking far more weathered than anticipated, stepped out and readied their weapons as Tuka struggled to his feet.
"Sorry we took so long," Blake muttered as she raised Gambol Shroud and nodded towards Tuka "he was-"
"Annoyingly persistent." Weiss finished as she let the barrel of Myrtenaster spin.
"We've been outmaneuvered!" the Berserker shouted as he got to his feet with labored breaths "Flee now and live to fight again!"
With that he bolted, ignoring his fellow comrades and heading for the distance. Several Uruks fled the meeting hall as well as some outside, but for the most part the majority just tried to decide which pair of human girls they should be focusing their attack power on.
"Mmm" Bubol groaned in delight as he glanced to the rest of the Uruks "Ya see that boys? More girls have come to beat us, isn't that fun!?"
"Quit standing around and fight!" Ashgarn called out as he struggled to his feet.
Bubol shrugged and brought his crossbow up towards the monochrome duo, steadying it with his other arm before firing. The battle resumed once more, Ashgarn taking the brunt of the damage as the smaller Captain continued switching targets and scampering around the battlegrounds. With Team RWBY's combined abilities, beating down the persistent Uruk soldiers became easier, with more and more of the raiders fleeing the battlefield until just over a dozen were left fighting beside their captains.
A glyph propelled Ashgarn through a stall, the All-Eater groaning before glancing up towards the fight and angrily standing up. He grabbed a piece of the wooden stall and ate it as he stretch and prepared to jump back in. Bubol leaned out of the way of a shotgun blast before backpedalling out of the way of Crescent Rose's next slash, backing up with a small hum of amusement as he came to a stop beside Ashgarn.
"Enough playtime Ashy, Devour them whole like the tasty little morsels they are!" Bubol enticed as he patted the exhausted Uruk on the back. Ashgarn gave him a look, before turning back to the fight with a grumble. Seeing another Uruk turn and flee, he narrowed his eyes and nodded towards the archer.
"Clear a path boys!" Ashgarn shouted to his soldiers, who began backing away from the girls as their captain hooked the small end of his bone club into its strap on his belt.
Confused momentarily by the hasty backpedalling of their opponents, Team RWBY turned towards the voice which had caused it. Bubol gave them a smile from behind Ashgarn, who raised his arms out to his sides and gave a deep breath before opening his mouth.
Almost immediately they had to anchor themselves as an overwhelming suction grew in his throat and uprooted the nearby stall. Ruby practically buried half of Crescent rose into the ground and held tight, Weiss summoned a Glyph beneath her as Blake darted behind a nearby building and Yang dug her fists into the ground. The Stall's planks were pulled close to the tornado of suction before being ripped apart by the sheer force and disappearing into Ashgarn's mouth.
"What is that?!" Weiss called out as the suction only grew.
"Must be his semblance! We need to stop it before it gets too strong." Ruby surmised, gritting her teeth as she clung to her weapon.
Weiss gave a frown of annoyance before attempting to summon a glyph she could use for range,
The Uruk soldiers distanced themselves greatly from the cyclone, with Bubol standing behind him and clapping over the show.
"See!?" he said as he practically jumped with enthusiasm "What Uruk could do this without Aura? This place is gonna be so much-"
He stopped his celebration when his well trained eyes spotted the dark figure leaping from a nearby building. He immediately jumped back as Blake landed where he previously was and immediately turned to fire at Ashgarn, only for a grapple claw to catch her hand and yank it to the side as she pulled the trigger. The round went wide from its mark, clipping the side of the meeting hall.
Blake was spun towards Bubol, who gipped the cord of his hook with a look of distaste "Going for an Uruk's rear while he's distracted? How dare you!" he said before chuckling "That's my tactic."
He readied to fire another bolt, unprepared for when the cord of his hook went slack. Blake darted out of the Hook's grasp, a shadow-clone of herself falling apart as she sailed backwards into Ashgarn. In his weakened state, it was more than enough to knock him over. The vortex ceased almost immediately after his jaw snapped shut upon impact with the ground, the rest of Team RWBY got to their feet. Blake managed to get both hands on either side of her head and backflip off of Ashgarn before he could pull her off of him. As soon as she was on her feet she darted towards Ashgarn as he got up on one knee, but Bubol leaped over Ashgarn Wrist bow raised and let loose another bolt. Blake immediately darted away using a shadow clone, which was thrown to the ground by the bolt and dissipated as the rest of her Teammates charged them.
Bubol landed in a sprint, sliding out of the way of a jab from Myrtenaster and rolling under one of Yang's swings, he came up on one knee before Ruby and fired another bolt which she avoided via speeding to the side. Bubol leaped to his feet as the last few soldiers they had rejoined the battle, supporting Ashgarn who seemed to be running on fumes at that point.
Blake darted past a shield-barer's spear, the Uruk unable to follow her as he suddenly had to block a punch from Yang. Zeroing in on the current weak link of their enemy, Blake weaved her way through the raiders towards Ashgarn, whose vortex semblance presented the biggest threat if he was allowed to do so again. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the diseased archer grappling to a nearby building to avoid the sniper rounds of Crescent Rose, clinging to a building and firing several bolts back before leaping from the building to avoid yet another round.
Ashgarn spotted her, frowning and sucking in a breath of air before rising and raising his bone club as she ducked under the swing of the last Uruk and charged him. His bone club came barreling towards her, smashing into a shadow clone as Blake reappeared behind him and slashed at his back. His aura still held, but she could see that it was growing dimmer with each strike, just a little more and he should be incapacitated. With that in mind Blake slipped under his next swing and slashed at him some more with both her weapon and its sheathe. He stumbled back towards the melee, glaring at her before letting his mouth stretch open once more. Sensing the imminent danger, Blake left a shadow clone in her wake as she darted forward, bringing the sheathe of her weapon into the bottom of Ashgarn's jaw just as the vortex started.
His mouth snapped shut, killing the vortex with it, and his Aura fizzled as the Captain suddenly stumbled back, bumping into one of his warriors as he fell to one knee.
"Pity," he muttered as he struggled to push himself back to his feet "I had so many meals I could've made you into."
Blake brought her blade to his face was about to order him to call off his followers when she heard Ruby yell "Blake look out!"
Turning, the only thing she saw was the sight of an unclenched hook and cord swinging towards her like a whip before it snapped her across the face and nearly blinded her with pain. She stepped back, only to fall into a tight grasp. She heard the diseased Archer shout "Do it Ashy, EAT!" and could feel warm breath on her neck before hearing the sound of metal on flesh.
Trying to work her eyes open despite the pain which flared across her face, she instantly saw Bubol, who seemed frozen in surprise if anything. Moving her arms she found the grasp on her shoulders lessening. Blinking through the pain, her gaze traveled up to a strange round object suspended in front of her face. As the pain lessened, the object became clearer. Within seconds she could easily identify it as an eye, stuck on the thin metal form of Myrtenaster which seemed slicked with black blood. Turning quickly, Blake saw the blade extend from Ashgarn's eye socket, the Captain's face going slack a bit as the blade retracted out of his head and the fat Uruk tumbled to the ground revealing Weiss behind him.
For a moment there was silence, then one of the remaining Uruks shouted "Ashgarn's down! I ain't gonna be next!"
The rest of the soldiers fled, leaving the Team of Huntresses-in-training to look at Bubol, who looked on in disbelief before pouting. He gave them a look which shifted to curiosity for a moment before whipping his wrist-bow up, but not at them. Before they could do anything he grappled to the roof of a nearby building.
"Fine," he said with a roll of his eyes as he raised his wrist bow and held it with his other hand "Go ahead and kill my plump little dumplin' like that. If I can't have him, then you can't have your village folk!"
Immediately he turned his weapon on the roof of the Meeting Hall and fired a red bolt which added the building to the list of burning structures in Yires. The four fired on Bubol, who leaped off the roof and disappeared behind it. With him currently out of sight Ruby immediately turned her attention towards the Meeting Hall "Come on, we need to help them out of there!"
Darting towards the building, she was soon followed by Yang and Blake. Weiss started forwards as well, but paused to glance back at Ashgarn's corpse uneasily. She took a look at her well-crafted weapon, eyes roaming over the blood that now stained it, before shaking off the unease and rushing to assist her teammates.
Somewhere in Vale - Grasslands
Crushing another set of weeds under his boot, Zog continued his trek through the grassy plains. Shield strapped to one arm, spear gripped in hand, his other arm was being used to carry the occasionally moaning form of his prisoner. To his side were train tracks in the distance, but he mostly focused ahead of him, goal set easily before him. As long as he kept avoiding large groups of the Dark Beasts, kept the Tark on his shoulder from starving, and kept himself distracted from the fact that he was basically alone using only his memory to find his way back to the desert lands of Vacuo... he should be fine and dandy.
Problem was this was too boring, an Uruk often had his fellow warriors to banter with to keep the utter boredom of long travels such as this from getting to them. They got antsy when bored, unless they were accustomed to such a thing. But what type of Uruk could get accustomed to boredom was beyond him. He could only take in the sights for so long until the lack of battle was brought back to the forefront of his mind, which was dangerous for an Uruk all on his lonesome like this.
Speaking to the Tark was a no go as well, despite that aura thing keeping her wounds from being much of an issue she mainly just kept groaning and whining. It contributed to his already prevalent antsy mindset, being annoyed wouldn't be good for him either. In fact, he had to remind himself time and time again that keeping her alive meant having ready access to warm Pinkskin flesh if he found himself lost in the desert. He just wished that he could get some more entertainment from her, the risk of having her die and rot already negated the poking, prodding and beating he'd done with slaves in the past for entertainment. But maybe...
"How 'bout a song?" he suddenly spoke out loud as he stepped over a small creek, turning his head towards his groaning passenger "I always used to treat the boys to a song when we was traveling about and such, makes the time go by quicker. I got lots of 'em too."
"Ugh... guh!" were the only replies he got. Shrugging, the Uruk smiled "The first one's about a pal of my b-former boss! Well, uh- it'd probably be more fitting to say that he was a pal of that pal instead." he said before taking a breath and reciting:
A hungry fellow of large size was he,
often devouring all that he could see.
Sinking his teeth into man and Orc same,
cleaning out rations he'd take none the blame.
Spurned by brother and many other Orcs,
he'd ignore their words with swing of the fork.
Oh what pity the loyal had for him,
a slave to his stomach on just a whim.
So much so that the only friend he had,
was one who reveled in habits so bad.
Encouraged to love his gluttonous ways,
surely he'd fatten for all of his days.
This was not supposed to be this long, but that's how it turned out I guess. This chapter took me so long to piece together and review that I actually had to start work on the next chapter just for some alleviation, and it did help considerably. As a result, the next chapter should take far less time to finish, so at least there's that. So far feedback on this story's been pretty healthy, so I'm glad that it's interesting enough. I could only hope that writing this will get easier as I continue but I've already mentioned that enough in previous chapters.
Ashgarn the All-Eater wasn't actually all that memorable as an opponent in my game. He was a glutton who'd fight with a giant bone as his weapon, almost always threw feasts just to keep- fattening himself. But it was the relationship he had with two other Uruks that gave him a place in this story for me, he added to their plots far more than he ever should've. And for that he earns his spot as a minor antagonist here simply for the lore he's helped me build.
Anyway, hope you enjoy, any and all criticisms positive or negative are welcomed in full so leave a review if you are so inclined to do.
Next Chapter: The Friendly.