Chapter 4

Conversation had been minimal between the two as Rigil and Oswin continued their walk. Oswin had taken the lead and Rigil trailed along behind her, still somewhat pondering what had caused her mood to change. He was so focused on his thoughts, he almost walked straight into Oswin. He noticed her form just in time and slammed on the breaks, digging in his heels and stopping himself from running her over. A little irritated at her stopping, he snapped, "Oswin! What gives? I almost ran into you."

"Apologies," she murmured, "I was just taking in the damage to the area around us. It's quite extraordinary."

Rigil was about to question what she was talking about, but a glance around his person revealed a tremendous sight. He'd been so distracted he had failed to notice that the thick trees that had just moments ago surrounded him were now overturned and splintered. The ground had been torn apart as if something huge had come barreling through. His gaze following the trail of destruction, he quickly discerned distinct signs of combat. A dozen meters or so ahead of him and Oswin was a large trail of humongous ice shards. Beyond that were a plethora of large black feathers that led toward a semicircle of weathered columns. There seemed to be a number of erect pedestals within the structure.

"What happened here?" he pondered aloud.

As he was in the middle of processing potential explanations, Oswin's concerned voice snapped him back to the now.

"Boarbatusk incoming!"

The girl twirled around on the spot and jumped backwards, unslinging her rifle in the process, landing a few meters away. Rigil flicked his arms and the poles snaked out of his sleeves and folded into his hands. His cannons unfurled to their active state and he readied himself for a fight.

He didn't have to wait long.

Mere seconds later, from the nearby treeline, a large boar shaped Grimm with white bone covering its face and two large tusks jutting from its mouth charged toward Rigil…and then immediately veered away, seemingly trying to put as much distance between itself and the hunter-in-training as it could. Rigil stared after it, confused, and then jumped as a shrill cry of laughter exploded from where the Boarbatusk had exited the trees. Behind him, Rigil heard Oswin murmur, "Ah. Now I understand…"

Rigil's head turned to the top of the trees as a form exploded from the canopy and careened into the air. Despite the individual's impressive height, Rigil managed to discern it was a young girl with her hair styled in a pink bob. She had her right hand held out to her side and in it was a glowing orb the size of a basketball. The sphere began to warp, as if made of some sort of liquid, as she reached the apex of her jump and began falling. The ball then rapidly changed shape into a crystalline halberd. In no time at all she had crossed the distance to the escaping Grimm and landed on it hard. The halberd skewered it effortlessly and the beast let out a yelp before collapsing under the girl's weight and dispersing into wisps of black smoke. The girl jumped to a standing position and thrust both her hands into the air exclaiming, "Woot! Oliver! Did you see that?! That was awesome! I only wish Oswin was here to see-OSWIN!"

The girl's head had pivoted in Rigil and Oswin's direction and the instant she laid eyes on the boy's partner, she dashed forward, covering the distance in less time than Rigil had to register the path she took, and tackled Oswin to the ground. Oswin was straddled by the girl who was grinning enthusiastically. The new girl was petite, probably a little shorter than Oswin (Rigil couldn't be one hundred percent sure from the angle he was observing), and had cream skin. On her person she wore a cherry colored denim jacket with no sleeves that was zipped up about half way. Beneath that was a hot pink tank top. The front left breast pocket had a white lily sigil emblazoned on it. Around the girl's waist resided a pink and red checkered skirt that stopped mid thigh. From the bottom of the skirt, scarlet leggings snaked down her legs and slipped into a pair of red sneakers that had white soles. The girl looked like she'd been dipped into a cotton candy machine.

Oswin took a labored breath and said, "Krystal, hon, you're making it somewhat hard to breath."

Krystal cocked her head while the comment processed. The light bulb suddenly blinked on and Krystal swung herself off Oswin. She took Oswin's hand and then yanked, lifting the other girl of the ground and into the air. Oswin landed with grace and took a moment to brush herself off. When she had, she turned to Krystal and smiled, "I'm glad you're safe."

Krystal waved her off, "Come on now Oswin! You know I can handle myself just fine!"

"I'm aware," Oswin nodded lightly, "I'm still glad."

Rigil, who had moved up to the girls by this point, cleared his throat loudly. Krystal jumped, having been completely oblivious to his approach, and Oswin simply turned her head toward him. She motioned from Rigil to Krystal and introduced, "Krystal, this is my new partner Rigil. Rigil, this is my friend Krystal."

Rigil held out his hand and immediately regretted it. Krystal took his hand in an iron grip and shook with a force that shouldn't have been possible for a girl her size. She eventually released his hand and he shook out his arm in an attempt to get rid of the aching pain now throbbing within it. When she had completed her shake, she directed a toothy smile at Rigil and exclaimed, "Nice to meet you!"

Rigil managed a small, somewhat forced smile back at her and answered, "Likewise."

"Oh!"

Krystal suddenly jumped into the air in excitement and said to Oswin, "Introductions! That's right! I need to introduce you to my partner! Oliver! Get over-Oliver?"

Krystal turned to the direction she'd come from with a look of confusion on her face. She cupped her hands around her mouth and hollered, "OLIVER!"

After a brief stint of silence, some bushes rustled and a young man walked into the clearing. He was tall, not as tall as Rigil, but close. He was also somewhat gangly; long, thin arms, slightly gaunt torso, and frail looking face. He had cream colored hair, just a few shades darker than his pale skin, that was thick and shaggy. The man was wearing a short-sleeve, white dress shirt that had the top two buttons undone. Black slacks trailed down his legs and flowed over a pair of flawlessly clean, black oxford shoes. A harness was strapped to his back and it seemed like it housed a number of swords, but Rigil couldn't tell exactly from the angle. A look of exhaustion was apparent on the boy's face and he had to take a second to catch his breath. He bent over, resting his hands on his knees, and took in a number of deep breaths. As he bowed, Rigil was finally able to see the contraption clearly. Two poles criss crossed to form an X shape with a third, vertical pole down the middle. Starting at what Rigil assumed was half way down the aforementioned poles was a thick, hexagonal box. It was black, like the poles, and at its center rested a bright color wheel of differing hues. At the end of each pole was the handle of a ninjato (making it a total of six swords). The handles were covered in a green wrap and the pommel of all the ninjatos had a slanted protrusion jutting from it.

"You alright?" called out a curious Rigil.

The man held up a finger and gave a short nod. When he had finished resting, he looked up and said, "Krystal, could I please ask you to slow down a little? I'm not that great at sprinting long distances."

Krystal responded with a beam and dashed over to the man. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder and stood him upright, a movement that seemed to pain him. Giving him a one armed squeeze, Krystal exclaimed, "This is Oliver! He's really cool. Got some fancy moves with his swords."

Rigil held up an arm and gave a sympathetic look to Oliver as he said, "Yo. Name's Rigil."

Oswin, who had now moved next to her partner, gave a bow and introduced herself as well, "Oswin Osprey. A pleasure."

Oliver nodded to both of them and looked like he was finally recovering. Taking one last deep breath, he slipped out from Krystal's hold and inquired, "Now that Introductions are out of the way, I don't suppose either of you know exactly what happened here, do you?"

All heads turned toward the remnants of what had obviously been a fantastic fight and Krystal suddenly shouted, "Holy snap! Is that ice?!"

Oswin closed her eyes and drooped her head some, murmuring just loud enough that Rigil could catch it, "Oh my dear Krystal. You literally walked right past it when you killed that Boarbatusk."

Rigil chuckled and answered Oliver, "No idea. But I think our destination in on the other side of the field. I ran into some friends on the way here and they said there were a whole bunch of relics in a semicircle of ruined columns. That area over there seems to fit the bill."

Oliver looked in the direction Rigil had pointed out and gave a nod of acknowledgement, "Right then. We shouldn't waste any more time."

"Agreed," piped in Oswin, "And might I suggest we stick together? Unless of course that would interfere with your wager, Rigil."

She looked at Rigil who narrowed his eyes some. Was that a genuine question or was that a jab? The way she'd asked it made it seem like it was the latter, but with how Oswin had acted earlier, he couldn't be sure. Once again deciding to play it off, he formed a grin and responded, "Nope. I'm already screwed as it is. Whether I go at the Emerald Forest with just you or with a group, I'm gonna survive one way or another. Cardin just had to bet I'd live."

The answer seeming to sate her, Oswin turned and began heading toward the ruin circles. Oliver and Krystal followed behind her and Rigil paused just long enough to take up the rear. The group wove between the carnage and was at the ruins in no time. As they crossed the threshold, Rigil could see Cardin had been right. There were twenty pillars forming a half circle and on most of the pillars were gold and black chess pieces. Immediately noticeable were that some of the pieces were missing. Both black bishops were gone, obviously now in Cardin's group's possession. Two gold rooks and two gold knights were also absent. Finally the set of gold pawns were no longer present.

"So we just take one?" asked Oliver aloud.

Rigil shrugged, "I guess."

He move forward and picked up the black knight. Holding it up he inquired, "What do you think, Oswin? This good?"

"That seems fine," she answered plainly.

A sudden wail right next to him made Rigil jump, "Awww! I wanted to the black horsey!"

Rigil looked at her, unsure of how to react, and then breathed a sigh of relief as Oliver spoke up promptly, "Don't worry Krystal. There's another one here. We can all have one."

Oliver held out the second black knight and it was immediately snatched from him grasp by an ecstatic Krystal. She giggled and jumped up and down, "Awesome!"

There was a unanimous sigh released by all other present. As Krystal calmed down a notch, Rigil looked back the way they had come from and said, "Now we need to start heading back. Don't want to be last."

The sentiment was shared by all and the four began their speedy return toward the the cliff face from which they had first departed. They'd been traveling for a good twenty minutes with the only sound coming from Krystal who was constantly chatting about one topic or another. While she droned on about some sort of new outfit she'd set her eyes on to a surprisingly complacent Oliver, Rigil leaned in toward Oswin and whispered, "Is she always like this?"

Oswin raised an eyebrow, "Krystal?"

She turned back and looked at her friend briefly before answering, "No. Not all the time. Sometimes she's even more energetic."

Rigil gave a grimace, "She seems nice enough, but I pity the poor sap that has to be partnered with her for four years."

"I've known Krystal for thirteen years and I'm just fine," Oswin commented succinctly.

"Well yeah," Rigil started, "But you're pretty chi-thirteen years?"

Rigil cut his initial sentence short as the time period registered with him. His mouth dropped open and his head swiveled back and forth between Krystal and Oswin, who now had her eyes closed as if she were trying to concentrate.

"Wow. That's impressive. I'd have gone insane if I had to deal with that bubbly of a person for thirteen-"

"Shush."

Oswin held up a hand right in Rigil's face forcing him to come to a halt. He opened his mouth to ask what she was doing when an oblivious Krystal walked right into him. The two went down in a heap of arms and legs and sputtering.

"Watch where you're walking!" spat a disoriented Rigil.

Krystal let out an embarrassed chuckle, "Oops. My bad."

She and Rigil untangled themselves and, as they got to their feet, Rigil asked, "What the heck Oswin?"

The group was now in a relatively large clearing, similar in size to the clearing where the ruins were. The tree line formed a sort of teardrop shape as the clearing came to a distinct tip that was a cliff edge. Oswin still had her hand up and her head was bowed as if she were listening for something. There was another shudder of the earth causing Rigil to look around for the source, "Looks like there's still some fighting going on. Pretty close too."

Oswin shook her head, "No…..not fighting…it's…..SCATTER!"

Oswin darted to the left, skimming the treeline and making her way to the other side of the clearing. There was another rumble, leagues more violent than the others before, and the ground began to split. Krystal and Oliver took off toward the edge of the cliff and Rigil jumped back into the trees behind him, rotary cannons unfurling rapidly on his wrists. From the crumbling earth, two limbs with pointed protrusions erupted forth. The pointed protrusions split apart into three, sharp fingers and stabbed into the ground. Using the earth as leverage, the limbs pulled up a massive form. Easily the size of an airship, the creature was covered in thick, white plates. Two more limbs that were similar to the first ones jutted out from the back; in between those two hind legs was a short, black tail. Directly opposite the tail was a thin, rodent-like head also covered in white plates. It looked like some sort of grotesque armadillo.

It released an earth shaking roar, it's maw opening to reveal a chasm of red lined with jagged, white teeth. Rigil stared blankly at the beast and said flatly, "That is by far, the scariest freaking thing I have ever seen."

The armadillo, with a swiftness one would not expect from a creature so large, brought back its front paw and took a swipe at Rigil. The Huntsman-in-training reacted swiftly and flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding the opening assault from his foe. Planting his feet as he landed following his third flip, Rigil responded to the Grimm's attack in kind. He brought up both his arms to bear and opened fire with his cannons. The Grimm lowered its head and shifted its body slightly so that its armor plating caught the full force of Rigil's counter attack. The chiming clang of bullets ricocheting rang in the air and Rigil ceased his attack after realizing his bullets were doing nothing. Scowling, he questioned aloud, "What in the heck is this thing?!"

"A Tunnelling Horror," answered Oliver's voice from across the way, "It has heavy armor that is nigh impenetrable. Its underside, however, is vulnerable to attack."

Rigil's head swiveled to where Oliver was, his face displaying a mixture of curiosity and being impressed. Oliver took notice and shrugged, "I like studying Grimm. Best to know thy enemy, correct?"

Rigil gave a nod of agreeance followed by a look of shock as a shrill cry exploded from nearby. All eyes were suddenly on the source. Krystal was easily twenty feet in the air, her orb already ebbing and flowing like some sort of viscous liquid. It took the shape of a large axe and she reared back to strike at the beast below her as the gravity began to pull her back down. Oliver's eyes widened at the sight and he called out, "Krystal! Did you not hear what I said?! I said the outer armor of the Tunnelling Horror is impenetrable!"

"No," she giggled as she closed in on her target, "You said nigh impenetrable. Which means there's a chance I can penetrate it!"

Oliver's mouth hung open at the boldness and surety of his partner's words. He looked to Rigil and Oswin for some sort of backup, but got on a disheveled look from Oswin and a murmur from a shrugging Rigil, "She has a point."

Krystal gave another battle cry just seconds before she swung. The axe tore through the air causing a piercing whistle to ring out and a impacted the Tunnelling Horror with such tremendous force, the nearby trees swayed from the ensuing air pressure wave. While Krystal's attack connected, it rebounded off the tough shell just as swiftly as it had landed. Krystal recoiled backward, thrown off balance, and squeaked, "Not nigh enough apparently. Uh oh."

The Tunnelling Horror twirled around and swiped at Krystal, its paw easily twice her size. Unable to move, suspended off kilter in the air, Krystal squeezed her eyes shut and braced for impact. A fraction of a second later Krystal did in fact feel an impact, but it was much lighter than she anticipated. Other unexpected sensations were also present: a steady stream of air flowing over her as she was displaced horizontally, two objects bracing her across her back and under her knees, and the firm grip it what she assumed were fingers on her shoulder and above her knee. Slowly opening her eyes, she found herself in Oliver's embrace. His gaze was set ahead of them, obviously prepping to land as they fell. Time seemed to slow for Krystal. As they touched down, Oliver looked down at her and asked, his voice seemingly deeper than usual, "Are you unharmed m'lady?"

Krystal stared at him, momentarily enthralled by a glowing aura around him. Managing a mutter, Krystal inquired, "What?"

As her eyes refocused, the glow around Oliver vanished and, in his normal voice, he responded, "Are you alright, Krystal?"

She slowly shook her head. Satisfied she was fine, Oliver set her on the ground and stated, "I suppose Krystal is correct. I did say nigh. I guess I'll take a crack at this thing."

Oliver tapped a button on his belt buckle and a whirring sound began emanating from his back. He took a step forward and Krystal was distracted from staring at Oliver by a flashing light on the huntsman-in-training's hexagonal pack. The light began circling around the rainbow color wheel in the center of the black hexagon before stopping on the color yellow. Oliver pressed the belt buckle button again, an action the was followed by another grinding sound. The poles housing the swords shuddered and they all extended outward from their home and were allowed to angle themselves toward the sky by ball and socket joints. All six swords were then shot into the air as if from the barrel of a gun and it was obvious the blades were covered in a yellow coating; presumably dust. Oliver leapt up after them.

Rigil looked on, impressed at the complexity of the weapon. The small smile on his face faded into an open mouth gawk as he witnessed what came next. Oliver snatched a blade underhanded in both his hands; a somewhat expected motion. Then came the unexpected. He twisted mid-air and caught one blade each in the crevasse of his elbows. Finally, on the back end of the twirl, he grabbed the second to last sword with his mouth and the final one was pressed into place behind his knee. One of the spider-like arms protruding from hexagon blasted a beam of yellow energy into the air. The ensuing recoil sent Oliver into a spiral as he fell. The young man picked up speed in both fall and rotation as he descended and moments before his image became a spinning blur, Rigil took note of the sparks that began dancing on the edges of all the swords.

Oliver was only out of sight for a moment as he swiftly came into contact with the Tunnelling Horror. His spin came to a screeching halt as every blade landed rapidly on the unimaginably thick carapace. Bolts of lightning cascaded into the air and tore into the ground, carving scars wherever they touched. Oliver narrowed his eyes, not surprised by the lack of damage that seemed to be enacted on the beast, but also somewhat disappointed. He pushed off with his ninjato so that he could get some distance to reassess the four's strategy and landed on his one free leg. As he did so, a wave of exhaustion hit him and he swayed slightly. He found himself almost collapsing, but two of the poles on his pack extended swiftly and anchored him to the ground.

From nearby, Krystal's voice shouted, "That was awesome!"

Oliver smiled some, but kept his vision on the enemy. He felt like he was missing something. In all of the lore books he'd read up on Grimm, he was sure there was something else important about the Tunnelling Horrors. They could dig underground quickly, they had virtually impenetrable armor, their underbellies were their weak point….what else?

The answer dawned on him too late.

The Tunnelling Horror turned it's glare on Oliver. It sank to the ground and then pushed up with its paws with sufficient to send the overgrown Grimm into the air. It curled into a large ball and began to twirl rapidly. The instant it touched down, it careened toward Oliver, not unlike a Boarbatusk. The huntsman-in-training moved to evade, but when his anchors detached he realized he hadn't had enough time to recover his energy. Despite this, he flexed the muscles in his leg to attempt to jump. This turned out to be a bad move. His vision blurred and all the strength he had left his body. His ninjato clattered to the ground and Oliver fell over. He caught himself with his hands, but the motion instigated a cough. Red splattered the ground under his face and he winced as pain shot through his lungs. Through blurred vision, he looked to either side of him. Rigil and Oswin were blocked from his view by the encroaching Grimm and a shocked looking Krystal was gazing at him a short distance away.

He let out a chuckle at this ironic position he was in. Not ninety seconds ago he'd moved Krystal out of a similar situation and was now himself helpless. Exhaling in disbelief sent another wave of splintering misery reverberating through his body. The ground began to rumble more violently as the Tunnelling Horror approached and Oliver could do little more than wait. He saw Krystal moving to try and intercept, but prayed she wouldn't be able to put herself into harm's way. Fate seemed to be listening to him that day as both before the Tunnelling Horror could reach him and before Krystal could attempt to save him the Tunnelling Horror came to a screeching halt and began twirling horizontally in place as opposed to its previous vertical forward motion. Then came an ear splitting BANG! and air wave that knocked him on his side.

The Tunnelling Horror ceased its rotational motion and uncurled on its side, obviously dazed. With it now not blocking his view, Oliver arched his head to try and make sense of what had just happened. Because of how far away she was, it took him a moment to find his answer. Behind Rigil, just barely visible to Oliver (part because of his already blurring vision, part because she was half a football field away), was Oswin. She was laying on the ground with her rifle braced on her shoulder. In the air directly above her, seemingly in some sort of orbit, were six elongated diamond shaped objects. Oliver wasn't quite sure why the bullet seemed to hit its target before the sound reached him, but he wasn't in a position to make inquiries. His previous curiosity, however, seemed to sated. When he first met Oswin he was confused as to how she was able to play the role of a sniper while blind, but now he figured it had something to do with some sort of cord extending from the rifle's scope and disappearing beneath her hair.

Rigil's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Holy crap!" boomed the huntsman-in-training.

The young man turned his attention from gawking at the overturned Grimm to Oswin and shouted, "That's one helluva rifle!"

Oswin offered no reply and looked to be lining up another shot. Taking the hint that Oswin was in no mood to talk during a fight, Rigil revolved back to the Tunnelling Horror to assess its status. It was recovering from its stupor and looked to be trying to right itself.

"TAKE THE SHOT!" called out Oliver, gripping at his chest as he did so, "We might not get another chance to hit its underbelly!"

Krystal, by this time, had gotten over to Oliver and crouched next to him, a hand on his back. She wanted to ask him if he was alright, but found herself looking to Oswin to see how she acted. Krystal could just barely make out her friend's finger twitch and the Tunnelling Horror was sent rolling from some sort of impact. Like before, the sound of a gun firing and the accompanying wave of air came a beat after the initial impact. Krystal half expected the Grimm to dissipate, not thinking the beast could survive a second shot from Oswin's gun, but disappointment found its way into her demeanor as the Tunnelling Horror stopped short of the cliff face and plopped back onto its legs. It glared at the four huntsmen-in-training and released a roar.

Oliver cursing next to her allowed her an opportunity to voice her concern, "Are you alright, Ollie?"

The boy nodded slowly and staggered to his feet.

"I'm fine Krystal. I just needed a moment to catch my breath."

"That didn't look like catching your breath. That looked more like trying not to cough up a lung," Krystal glanced at the blood on the ground, "And it doesn't look like you were doing a good job."

Oliver placed a hand on Krystal's shoulder and smiled at her, "I appreciate your concern, Krystal, but there's no need to worry. I'm fine."

Oliver maintained his smile even though he knew he was partially lying. The pain was subsiding and he was fairly certain he could continue combat, but he was certainly far from fine. Krystal looked at him for a moment and Oliver was worried that she might press further, but the stomping feet of the Tunnelling Horror seemed to distract her.

It surveyed each potential prey in front of it and zoned in on the human that had knocked it around. It jumped up and curled into a ball and that's when Rigil saw their chance to claim victory.

The Tunnelling Horror landed and streaked toward Oswin. Oswin reacted quickly, standing up from her prone position and leaping vertically into the air. She threw out her hand and the six diamond shaped satellites zipped in between her and the Tunnelling Horror. The tips directed at the Grimm began to glow and materialized an orb of pulsating red. The orbs crackled and then from them came a lance of energy that tore through the air. The streaks of energy slammed into the Tunnelling Horror and while they offered some resistance, they did little to slow it down. Not phased by the results of her attempt at damaging the Grimm, Oswin brought her arm back to her chest and clutched her hand into a fist. The diamond bits raced back to their owner and fell back into their resting place on the rifle. Instead of fitting snugly into their slots, however, they remained angled outward slightly and fired off another batch of lasers. The force imparted was sufficient enough to send Oswin further into the air and out of the path of the Tunnelling Horror.

The rotating mass of death passed harmlessly under her falling form, travelling a good deal into the tree line granting the ground a moment of temporary respite. Oswin landed gracefully, kneeling slightly to cushion her fall. She looked up at her partner when she heard him call out, "Oswin! Circle up! I've got a plan!"

Rigil turned to Krystal and Oliver (who had just finished resheathing his ninjato) and waved them over, "You guys too!"

It took only a few seconds for the group to gather and Rigil immediately set in, "Hey Oliver. That pack of yours, it's got a whole lot of different kinds of dust in it, right? And you can put it on your swords?"

Oliver nodded, "Yes. It electrostatically coats my ninjato with whatever dust type I choose. I have two uses of each dust installed at any one time."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Rigil said, waving him off, "Don't need the gritty details. Do you have any Gravity Dust?"

Narrowing his eyes, Oliver answered, "I do. What exactly do you have planned?"

Rigil offered no explanation at this point and looked to Oswin, "Those diamond thing-ys, how much force can they produce? They seemed to toss you pretty easy."

"My V-Bits?" questioned Oswin.

Rigil shrugged, "I guess."

"Well, if I push them, together they can generate enough thrust to push a Bullhead through the air."

Clapping his hands together, Rigil exclaimed, "Awesome. Now listen carefully. I don't want to repeat myself."

As the group leaned in, the Tunnelling Horror managed to get its bearings straight. It turned around and locked on to its prey. They were conveniently together in one group. Taking advantage, its paws began tearing into the ground beneath it and it slipped inside the earth. It rapidly swam through the dirt to its mark. The beast could feel the tremors of their feet growing closer and closer and when they were right under it, it dove straight up. It exploded from the ground, tossing dirt and debris in every direction. The four had unfortunately scattered just in time, but it wasn't deterred. It singled out the female the had taken two shots at him again. She was close now; too close to avoid it if it spun at her. It took to the air and began its motion to curl up. This turned out to be a mistake.

To its left, the human with the wrist guns shouted at the top of his voice, "Oliver! Now!"

The white haired human appeared in the air above it holding his six blades. This time, however, all six blades were coated in black. With expert precision, the boy tossed all six blades downward before it could curl up completely. Each blade, much heavier than before, found a home in between the minute creases in the armored plating that were only momentarily revealed when it began to curl up. The blades sank in some, which was uncomfortable and annoying as it prevented him from curling up completely, but not fatal. Then came another cry from the wrist gun boy, "Oswin!"

A whirring sound became apparent nearby and the six floating metal shapes that had tried to injure it earlier were buzzing around it. They zigged and zagged through the air, lining up for whatever it was they were doing. Then they dashed forward. Each shape struck the end of one of the white haired boy's swords and drove them inside the Grimm all the way to the hilt. The Tunnelling Horror released a shriek as pain rocked its body. The shapes quickly switched position and angled themselves under the guard of the swords embedded in its back. They pushed the swords out and into the air, an act that left the beast in a stupor. It was just barely able to register a figure sliding to a stop in front of it. It was the female that had attempted to strike him earlier with an axe. In her hands this time was a staff of some sorts. She reared back with it in hand and exclaimed, "Batter up!"

She smacked the Tunnelling Horror with all her strength and, dazed from the damage it had taken, it couldn't muster any strength to resist. The force of the blow sent the creature airborne and over the cliff edge. It gave one final roar of defiance before disappearing into the canopy far below.

Rigil gave a fist pump as the Grimm disappeared from view. Krystal dove across the distance between her and Oliver and tackled him to the ground in an ecstatic hug. While the action seemed to knock the wind out of him, Oliver didn't make a move to stop her. In fact, he seemed to return her gesture. Rigil looked at Oswin and said, "Not a bad plan, eh?"

Oswin smiled lightly and responded, "It was obviously sufficient."

"Just sufficient?"

"There were o' so many ways that could have gone wrong," chuckled the girl, "But luck seemed to be on your side today."

Rigil laughed, "There's no luck about it! We're just that good."

"Indeed…." answered Oswin.

Move up next to her, Rigil followed with, "Well I guess that's that. We should make our way back to the cliff where we started before another one of those bastards show up."

"Agreed," breathed Oliver's strained voice, "You should probably let me up, Krystal."

Krystal jumped to her feet, being prone obviously not being an issue that would delay her. Oliver followed suit, albeit more gingerly, and looked to Rigil, "Lead on. It's time to go."