I DON'T OWN RWBY!
"Birdie No!" -Ruby Rose [Lindsay Jones]
Jaune stood crouched over, with his hands propped up on his knees and a slight pant he tried desperately to hold back in his throat. His daggers had clattered down beside him, his gun still holstered within it's sheath. His muscles were sore and his legs were screaming at him to lie down and stay there.
His teammates weren't doing any better, if anything, some were doing worse then he was.
Ruby stood - but only with the support of Crescent - hands tightly clutching afformentioned weapon. She had it the best out of the group of four; she didn't run as hard as the others due to her ability to use her weapon's recoil to move around tactfully and swiftly. She probably ran the most, yes, but about half of the work was done by Crescent Rose.
Blake on the other hand, was exactly the opposite - she had it the worst of all. She had practically no way of gaining more speed without actually having to do the work herself. He weapon wasn't meant for that, her ribbon could only move her when it had something sturdy to attatch to. And it didn't.
She was the only one that didn't have the ability to use a weapon's recoil for speed purposes - which caused her to have to run faster then the others. It didn't help that her style revolved around the use of carefully accurate motion.
Yang took the most hits of the group by far, being the tank of the group wasn't the most simplest of tasks. You needed someone who was willing to block hits with their own body so others could attack in accordance to their strategies.
The extent of their fatigue was tremendous - verily so. Their injuries - while not severe - still something most people wouldn't scoff over. While Blake's injuries were far less worse then the others, there were still obvious signs of swelling and bruising at various open areas of her body.
All this effort, all this fighting that had occured against the grimm, and they only felled about several, give or take.
Just how could these things be so strong!?
"Do you...think we're done...yet?" Yang asked between heaving breaths.
Jaune was the first to reply, "If I had to take...a guess? Probably not."
He heard a whine and a groan - probably Ruby and Yang respectively - and tried to lighten the mood, "Hey, cheer up. These things should get easier as we fight them more often, because the more we fight, the better we become at learning their attacking patterns."
"He's right." Blake surpisingly spoke up, "The grimm have been getting a bit easier to beat if you paid close attention."
The sisters seemed to mull over this, and ultimately decided they were right, this was just initiation - much better to have experience with the grimm beforehand to make future missions easier and more efficiently played out.
Footsteps echoed through the tunnel, alerting the four of something's prescence - making them quickly grab their weapons and get in a fighting stance. They could tell these footsteps were different from that of the grimm's, it sounded more sharp, whereas grimm sounded muffled due to their paws and fur.
"Think it's some other students?" Ruby whispered.
Jaune's eyes narrowed, his gaze settling on the long rounded pathway, daggers held in reverse grips close to his chest, "It might be."
The footsteps grew closer, the sound becoming louder and louder with every passing second - the group of four making a tight circle amongst them in a battle fomation. Ruby replaced the chamber of Crescent Rose, Blake grabbed the sheath from her backpack and held it like a sword, Yang gripped the handle bars of her gaunlet/shotguns tightly, and Jaune stood in the front of them all.
He duly noted Yang was about to cock back Ember Celica, but held up a hand signaling her to stop; thankfully, she took the hint. He concentrated on nothing except the environment around him, while the footsteps grew even still, he was able to make out something else.
A frown marred his face, and he squinted in an attempt to look through the darkness that the tunnel beheld. Hand still up in the air, Ruby forced a question - presumably a dumb one - down her throat, nervously shaking ever so slightly.
Eventually though, he aas able to make clear of what the noise actually was, and his posture became relaxed.
It was the sound of two people talking.
"It's not grimm." he assured in a whisper, calming the other three of them down and letting their weapons be held in more relaxed holds.
He listened intently - while it was still only small talk, he was able to make out two female voices that sounded almost completely identical. Twins, he was able to deduce. He could tell one pair of footsteps was sharper then the other, which meant one of them was walking with strength, or had something on her shoe.
"I could've sworn I heard someone here, Melanie." one of the two said, slowly approaching the end of the tunnel into a small corridor. Jaune and Blake hid behind one of the walls, while Yang and Ruby hid on the one opposite of them.
"Are you sure? We walked all this way and there probably isn't anyone here, Miltia." the other complained - most likely Melanie.
"Quit whining, you need the cardio anyways." Miltia retorted.
Melanie gasped, "Are...are you calling me fat!? My dearest sister is saying that precious me is overweight!?"
Jaune rolled his eyes as he listened to the more amusing extent of their pointless banter, feeling a bit uncomfortable with having Blake have to lean on his back for stealth reasons - I mean, he wouldn't usually complain at having a pretty girl pressed up against him, but he never actually expected it to happen.
"Should we go out?" Blake asked in an inaudible whisper.
Jaune listened on a little more, and shifted his position, standing up with conflicted eyes. These people didn't seem to be the types of people who would give them trouble; it would be good to have some other people to help them fight.
With a reluctant sigh, he nodded his head just enough for Blake to notice, and the pair started to walk forward, signaling the two Rose siblings to follow suit.
As soon as he felt like he came into view, he took into account the slight jump the sisters took, their forms became more tense and their fists instinctively raised up in a defensive stance. Upon seeing that they - probably - meant no harm, Melanie and Militia relaxed their postures, walking forwards to them at a bit of a faster pace.
"Well, I'm gonna skip the cliche 'we aren't going to hurt you' line and just skip to introductions." He snarked.
He heard Yang smirk, and he could've sworn Blake rolled her eyes. Thankfully, one of the sisters responded, "Well, it couldn't hurt to have more people to fight the grimm with."
She had long black hair - as did the other - but the major difference was their clothing, one was garbed in a white dress, very stylish attire that was sure to stand out in a crowd. The other wore a black and red color scheme, both girls had heels with sharp stilts and claws respectively.
The only reason he knew this was because of his incredible ability at being perceptive.
"I'm Melanie, and this is Milititades - or just Miltia for short." the one in white introduced, gesturing her hand towards the said girl, who looked a bit shy under the four of their gazes.
Well these sisters seemed to be opposites like Ruby and Yang were, good to know.
He grinned, "Well this is Ruby, Yang, and Blake. And I'm Jaune, short, sweet, rolls of the tounge - ladies love it!"
Melanie smirked teasingly, "Do they?"
"Well, I actually don't know." he admitted, "Hey Rubes, you like my name?"
"Yeah!" she shouted absentmindedly, a little bit too fast, before gaining a light blush, "I mean...uh...yeah, I guess.."
Yang and Melanie snickered, looked like the two of them would be getting along quickly - which wasn't too big of a surprise, Melanie seemed like the person who would like to tease a lot, and Yang did just that.
"Don't ya' think you said that a little too fast there Rubes?" Yang asked grinning.
Melanie followed up with her own comment, "Yeah, someone could get the wrong idea~."
The two girls looked at eachother, before Yang grabbed her by the shoulder, "Me and you, we're going to be good friends." she stated certainly, causing Melanie to let out a grin that matched Yang's own. The two girls started talking about the normal things that people of their personalities did - embarrasing secrets about their sisters.
Jaune crossed his arms, "They seem to be getting along well."
"Yeah, it doesn't really seem like much of a surprise though." Blake responded, rolling her eyes.
Ruby popped in between the two of them, "Well, at least that means we have more help!"
Jaune shrugged, "I never said it was a bad thing - but nevermind."
"Uhm," he heard a voice say uncertainly, causing him to jerk his head around to meet Miltia's gaze, "I know Melanie already introduced me, but I'm Milia."
Jaune took the outstretched hand and shook it firmly, looked like this girl had manners, "Jaune. Just Jaune."
They made small talk, walking on what they hoped to be the right road to take, the man had only said to take on a few grimm for the mission, and they betted on seeing at least another one on the way back, so it would just be easier to head back to the school. Jaune's daggers had been long since sheathed back inside the safety of their pouches, keeping conversation while looking around for grimm.
Yang and Melanie's relentless teasing had just started a few minutes ago, the two poor sisters of said girls being the subject or their teasing endeavors. Which left Jaune with Blake in an awkward silence.
Jaune, being the...Jaune he was, decided to break the silence in what he remembered from watching a movie on his new scroll, "So...nice weather we're having today."
Blake stared at him with a deadpan gaze, before cracking a - surpising - tiny smile, "How could you know that? You can't even see outside."
Jaune shrugged, "It's just what one person said in this movie I watched, and it worked quite well, so I decided to use it."
Blake giggled, "You decided to use something you got from a movie?"
Jaune felt his heart beat a tiny bit faster at the cute giggle the usually silent girl let out, though Oum knew why, "It's better then just going with what my mind tells me to do, that would never work."
"Have you even tried doing that before?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I did that when that guy gave me money to buy some food, long story short I got kicked out." he admitted bashfully.
Blake let out another giggle - oh Oum did Jaune think it was cute, "Well, I guess this is a better outcome, is it not?"
Well, if it means talking to a cute girl, then I'm in!
He refrained from saying such a dumb thing, because the guy from the movie only said that in his inner dialogue, so he just followed what he did.
"Oho?" a voice tore him away from his thoughts, "Aren't you two getting along better."
Blake blushed a faint shade of pink, and Jaune shrugged for the umpteenth time today, "Well, we talked, so that's certainly an improvement from her talking about..." crickets chirped to prove his point of her silence.
Blake slapped him on the shoulder lightly, with no aggressiveness within it at all. It felt nice talking to people like this...like how she used to talk with Adam...
She mentally shook her head - now wasn't the time to think about things like that, this was her chance at starting a new life! A life where she was able to make a difference without the use of violence! The start of new friendships that contained people who wouldn't take control over her.
Or she hoped.
"See, they're already looking like really close friends." Melanie added in, smirking widely.
He duly noted that Ruby puffed her cheeks slightly - though he couldn't fathom why, and just kept silent in that regard. He smiled lightly as he walked with his newly made friends, listening in and out to some of the conversations held between the five of them.
A low rumble sounded throughout the lengthy corridor - the students became unmoving on the spot, hands itching towards their weapons in an instinctive attempt to defend themselves. Jaune was first to react though, reaching for his gun/knife combo and firing out a fast, but weak bullet towards the source of the noise.
He heard something make an impact for all but a second, though it seemed the bullet became muffled by something; Jaune was leaning towards grimm fur, but he couldn't be too sure. It did however, seem to garner it's attention, and the noise gradually became closer and closer, the floor around them shook violently with each passing second.
He grimaced; this creature did not seem like the grimm they had fought earlier, far from it wouldn't be that much of an exaggeration if he was being completely honest. While the...lets say grimm 1...had fast, agile steps that barely made a sound to the naked, human ear - grimm 2 made a literal mini earthquake with each step it took, not to mention that would take a very big creature to do so. If that was the case...then in the upperground level...that would mean this grimm was at least a few letter ranks ahead.
It was like comparing an Ursa to a Deathstalker.
A low shudder came from the thought, he certainly didn't want to face the underground version of a Deathstalker - even if there were six of them. The steps became even louder, and bone plating had come into view, large and bulky arms helped support the massive beast's weight.
His eyes widened, it was an ape-like grimm.
It's red eyes left a trail of energy in the form of wisps, trailing by as he came closer and closer. It's chest was protected with the bone armor grimm usually had - but if he had to guess, he would say this particular armor was about as strong as a Deathstalker's exoskeleton just by taking a quick glance.
The air around them grew tense, not a single movement was made between the six friends. The ape-grimm seemed to have a tendency of striking fear into it's opponents, and banged it's large fist into the wall next to it, making it crumble into a heap of dust and rumble. The walls shook, but thankfully, were able to stay intact. However, that one action looked to have succeeded in it's attempt at making the students scared.
Though, Jaune was to a slightly lesser extent, which is why he decided to attack first.
Hei! Karosu o terasu ano asahi no you ni
(nitoro chaaji atsuku ikouze)
He started what would be a relentless assault, feet padding on the ground lightly in small, and agile steps. He twirled his daggers around and held them in an X formation in front of his chest - both a defensive and offensive manuever he had learned during his times out in the wilderness. He didn't notice any wind blowing by him, so he had to assume he was the only one in this charge, which worried him slightly. The monster was big, horridly so. He would just have to hope his friends would pick up on the memo and help him.
Saa! Susumou ze itsu demo junbi wa OK
(Kataya furi hengenjizai de)
He calculated his and the ape's every move beforehand, his calculating eyes settling themselves on various parts of it's body in an attempt to search for any weaknesses. The most obvious being it's eyes, and the cracks between bone plating like the one's they had fought before - though the latter he was unsure on. The former was a given, every grimm had a weakness in their eyes; it was one of the most fleshy parts of the grimm anatomy.
Kasanari au omoi ga shinkuro shite
Kesshite kienai kizuna ni naru kara
He forced himself not to pause mid-stride when he felt a prescense settle into a quick pace just to his left - and with his enhanced aura sensing abilities, he was able to pick up on who it was rather quickly. Blake's steps almost became one with Jaune's own steps, four sets of feet tapped the ground lightly. They looked eachother in the eyes and nodded not only a second later; their minds having formulated a plan at five miles a minute.
Doko made mo tsuyoku nareru
Oretachi nara woh woh woh yeah
He came into the ape's gaurd like a tiny bug, with the vulnerability to be squashed at any moment, but the agility to be able to stop it from happening. He let out a roar as he released his arms from their positions, slashing in an X pattern across it's chest, which did nothing more then anger it fully. It released a loud snarl and swept it's arm in an attempt to smack the nuisance away, said nuisance jumped and landed in a crouch, rolling away from another slow, but powerful swing from the grimm.
IkuZ!
Hageshiku moeru batoru
Blake's ribbon tied itself on his wrist and he was sent flying up into the air, his feet landing with a dull thud on the roof above them - he pulled his daggers back and was sent back down in a flying rush towards the grimm. The grimm attempted to swat him away, but he was able to weave through it's attacks with ease, the grimm being too slow to actually be able to land a hit on him. He let out a battle cry slashed it across the face in one, clean cut.
IkuZ!
Pinchi wa chansu daze
It's mask crumbled away into nothing but mere dust, leaving it's face open and vulnerable to any attack they had to offer - which thankfully, Yang caught onto. She fired some shells off of Ember Celica that made satisfiying impacts with it's face, explosions peppered around it's body, which would, under normal circumstances, be considered nothing more then mere annoyances, without it's grimm mask, it's face was prone to taking loads or damage.
IkuZ!
Kishikaisei
Zettai ni akiramenai
Ruby followed up with a few shots from her trusty sniper/sniper combo, it tore through flesh violently and only met opposition when she made an off shot and the bullet landed somewhere other then it's vulnerable spots. The other sisters came quick to Jaune and Blake's side, Melanie flipping fowards and landing a sharp axe kick, while Militia jumped up and delivered a quick few slashes with the use of her claws. Jaune grinned, and looked back towards his group of friends, his eyes seemed to convey a message of sorts, which the others seemed understand.
IkuZ!
Yuzurenai yume ga aru
He flipped backwards towards Yang and Ruby, letting a circular pad of aura form under his feet, Blake's ribbon still clung tightly to his wrist, and Melanie fell in line with the busty blonde brawler. Yang pulled back as Melanie did, and they both let out powerful strikes to the aura padding, launching Jaune at blinding speeds towards the grimm. Blake yanked her ribbon even further, accelerating Jaune to speeds not even though possible - even faster then Ruby.
IkuZ!
Kanarazu getto daze
He let out all of his breath in one, mighty roar and reared his dagger hands back, hus feet planted themselves firmly on the ground and he struck forwards, air rushing from that one strike alone, the girls even having to go so far as to cover their fluttering skirts. Jaune stayed behind the grimm, his eyes closed and his face serene. Until he heard a loud thud, and he turned around to see the monster succesfully cut in two.
He took one foot forwards to get in in line with the other, and he reared his fist back, pumping into the sky with an emotion that could only be described as ecstatic.
"We did it!"
AN:Wow, that long delay was just a screw up on my part, between piano, playing through all of Pokèmon X, watching some of the Xyz episodes, and motivational issues with the RWBY comunity, I'm surprised I was able to make this one of the best chapters I've ever written. I'm actually quite proud of the fight scene.
The song was from Xyz - the japanese opening if you were wondering. A great song that you should listen to.
Now, I'd like to discuss something that has happened a bit recently.
MeteoriteCreature's death.
I didn't know him personally, heck, I could just be described as a regular reader of his fic 'Love Traingle' - which, in all honesty, I was. Some people may have heard the heartbreaking news, but if you didn't...well...how should I put this...
He gone, not here anymore...he's dead.
He went through a rough life, that's what I was able to pick up on from that message they were able to get across from his fics, from rape to death throughout his life, the world just seemed to be out to get it for some inexplicable reason. His death...I can only hope that it took him to see his loved ones again.
I admire him for his ability to persevere, with outside help, of course. But it was him who was able to make the descision to do what he did, even if he was a little emo throughout it.
I don't kniw him well...I practically don't know him at all...but I feel like I needed to get this across to you guys.
He was a great writer, and from what the message his friends gave, he was also a very great man. To those close to him, I'm sorry to you guys. But I'm guessing you don't want my half-assed version of a sorry, so I'll shut up in that regard.
All I can say is, rest in peace. Hopefully you've been taken to be with the one you loved.
Man...I'm not good at this stuff.
On a side note, I have a random question for you all that know of a lot of Pokèmon out there, what's your favorite pokèmon? Just something I wanted to ask to lighten the mood for some people that were having a bright and happy day, and if that didn't help, I'm sorry for putting some tension in the air, but I felt these things needed to be said.
Well...thank you all for the support this fic has been given, and a huge sorry on the delay. I'm having motivational issues with RWBY so don't expect me to be pumping out chapters.
Thanks for listening to me talk!
Love it? Hate it? Leave a review!
Cya!