A/N: Day 6 of RWBY Relationship Week - Rolled Nora and Ren. Went for something different to the usual Ren/Nora things I see around, and got a little carried away.
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I like battles. :3
"Nora!"
This was the umpteenth time Lie Ren had shouted her name, and the third that it had been to get her out of the trees. A head popped out from the leaves, beaming a charismatic smile that could only belong to his partner.
"Yes Ren?" Nora Valkyrie replied, stray foliage tangled in her orange hair like a child in...well, like a child in a tree. Nora had the enthusiasm to match a child, not to mention a seemingly limitless supply of energy. She hadn't stopped bouncing around since the two were told to hunt Grimm in the forest, "It's just like a field trip!" She had exclaimed happily, despite Rens pointing out that they could go down there at any time they pleased.
"Come down from the trees, Nora. We won't find any Grimm up there."
She pouted, staring at the boy on the ground.
"We might! There could be a sloth in here! Ooh! That reminds me." Ren sighed as she cleared her throat and folded his arms, knowing that it was a battle of patience to do anything with Nora. The cries of 'Brrraw! Brrraaaww!' rang out across the clearing, and as Nora held a hand to her ear in response Ren dragged her attention back to him.
"If there is, they aren't around. Come on, we need to decide what to hunt." He turned to walk off as the trees rustled behind him, until Nora quite literally popped up beside him like a spring.
"No need! I already know what we're fighting!" She walked on her tip-toes, trying to make herself as tall as possible. Ren raised an eyebrow, humouring her.
"Oh? What would that be? Nevermores?" She shot him a dirty look that rapidly turned into one of senseless glee.
"Nope! Beowolves! Ruby was talking to me earlier about how she and Weiss fought them when they were going through initiation and how Weiss accidentally set a tree on fire and then the fire spread so they had to leave but they didn't know what happened to the Beowolves because they had to run because of the fire so Beowolves might be resistant to fire and..."
She didn't even come up for air, hundreds of words passing from her mouth in one breath. How she managed it was beyond Rens understanding, but he was used to it after the countless hours spent listening to her retell stories that had questionable accuracy. A small but warm smile found its way onto his face as she told him about her theories on flaming Beowolves - and sending them flying with her hammer into her enemies. It was a ludicrous mental image but Nora seemed convinced that it would work.
"Because when the Beowolf lands it's still on fire so it'll come to its senses and attack the closest thing which will be the enemy because we fired them at the enemy and it's on fire so its even more dangerous and then we can attack them while the enemy is distracted-Or we can shoot MORE Beowolves at them! Ren, what do you think?" She asked, finally stopping to breath, a slightly manic grin on her face.
"I think you should try it sometime." He began, quickly continuing his sentence to prevent her from getting the wrong idea. "In a completely safe and controlled environment away from everyone else." Her smile faltered a little, but did nothing to harm her excitement.
They continued this way for the next fifteen minutes, with Ren quietly putting down her more insane ideas and pointing out flaws in her others. He glanced up at the sky watching the clouds roll in from the north, blanketing the area with a dull grey. 'So much for a dry day.' He commented dryly to himself, recalling Nora's happy but completely inaccurate weather forecasting before they left. She seemed to think exactly the same, mimicking his movements and pulling an over-the-top sad face, speaking in the most depressed voice she could muster.
"I thought it was gonna be sunny..." She whined, prompting him to at least attempt to distract her to more important things.
"Well Nora, it might still come out. You just have to hope." He took another breath to speak, but as usual was interrupted by his friend who skipped ahead a few feet, whirling around and walking backwards as she spoke.
"What if it rains for a little and then the sun comes out and then we have a rainbow? What if we have a rainbow as we're fighting Grimm? That would be so romantic! Ren! We should do that!"
Ren chuckled to himself, the girl never ceased to amuse him. How the thought of going toe-to-toe with murderous beasts under a rainbow was romantic to her he would never know, but it was part of what made Nora Nora. Along with the apparently deranged remarks she often came out with and her childish mannerisms and behaviour, of course. Ren knew her better than that however, that underneath her playful exterior lay an intelligent, quick thinking and surprisingly gentle person who only surfaced when she needed to. He was reminded of this fact somewhat un-gently as the wind was knocked out of his lungs, realising that she had tackled him to the ground without a word, holding a finger to her lips and glancing to her right in a prompt for him to do the same.
Sure enough, there was a telltale movement behind the vegetation that obscured anything behind it from view. He glanced up at Nora, watching her silently get up off of him and unhook her weapon from her back. He also noticed that she had already opened it into the hammer form, but he didn't recall her doing that. Regardless, he too rose to his feet and slid his own weapons out from his sleeves, holding onto the grips firmly as they shared a single glance, relaying their plan with a quick stare. Nora nodded once and stood her ground, waiting for Ren to move to his position a little to the right of the disturbance.
No more than a minute later and they were both ready, with Ren silently counting down with three nods. No more than a second after he had finish moving his head the third time had Nora reacted, kicking off the grass and launching into the bushes with a battlecry that rivalled an Ursa Major for intensity. She vanished from his sight for a split-second as Ren too darted from his cover, immediately taking note of the scene before him.
Twelve Beowolves in a small clearing, all currently distracted by the Valkyrie girl. The first fell before they knew what was happening, the swing crushing its skull to dust under the power of the blow. Nora landed back on her feet just in time to avoid the first lunge, spinning around and using her momentum to slam Magnhild into a second Beowolf, the force sending it flying across the air into the trunk of a tree with a sickening snap. It fell to the floor, dead.
Ren moved in such a contrast to Nora it would be difficult to think they could ever work well together. He surgically sliced a Beowolves neck as it was circling to get into a better position to attack, completely unaware of his presence. Even before the life drained from its eyes had he launched himself at another, kicking up off the ground to jump over the charging Grimm and landing square on his feet in time to deliver a swinging kick to the jaw of another, following up with a single downward slash that pierced the thick fur and drew thick, almost black blood.
The noise of combat was deafening, but Nora paid the guttural snarls no heed. She swung around and upwards, catching a Beowolf in the flank and sending it hurtling into one of its packmates with a grunt. No sooner had she finished the manoeuvre than another had taken its place, but she treated it in exactly the same way.
Well aware of the imminent attack behind her, Nora yanked her arms backwards, loosening her grip just enough to send the hilt of her hammer sliding back at speed to jab her assailant forcefully in the ribs before she firmed her grip and pushed forwards in the same heartbeat. The impact was solid, but Nora let the reverberations run down her legs and waste away into the ground, knowing better than to attack while off balance.
Another howl pierced the chaos, signalling the arrival of the Alpha Beowolf. It lurked at the back of the clearing menacingly, content to let its subordinates tire the duo out. Unfortunately for them, Nora had endurance to match the biggest of creatures. She swung her hammer as though it were a part of her body, pummelling bones and masks into the dirt without a second thought. Ren watched her between his own combat, nimbly ducking underneath the Grimms swipe and slicing upwards with his blades to hear the familiar sound of flesh splitting. The corpse fell over on its side, exposing the boy but allowing him the opportunity to avoid another lunge, rapidly hurling himself backwards.
Nora took note of the boss's arrival but kept her focus on the current fight, aware of Rens impressive acrobatics in the corner of her eye. She felt spurred on by his display of skill, feeling another surge of adrenalin flooding her veins as she leapt at the next Beowolf in her sights, grinning madly all the while - as though this were a game to her. It attempted to dodge her attack, but she had used her momentum to good effect and was upon it faster than it ever could have reacted. The Grimm didn't have time to fight back as the force on its back snapped the spinal cord, leaving it paralyzed and slowly dying on the forest floor.
They worked in a chaotic synchrony, with Ren surgically dispatching them one by one as Nora happily swung her hammer left and right, sometimes killing and sometimes only breaking a few bones, but with every swing she was thinning the pack and it starting to show. Now there were only four Beowolves in the fight, with three others circling the edge of the clearing, aware of their wounds and the need to be careful.
A pink cloud of dust filled the air, the booming sound ringing out to the heavens above the howling of the remaining Grimm. Nora giggled in time with her attacks, forcefully dislocating a leg from one of the unfortunate Beowolves and rendering it dead as she brought Magnhild slamming down onto its back. She caught another movement in her peripheral vision and acted accordingly, jumping backwards to avoid the leaping attack. She saw her chance and took it, digging her heel into the dirt to give her anchorage as she rapidly tossed Magnhild to her other hand in order to swing into the beasts uncontrollable arc. The force of her hit sent the now broken body hurtling off into the bushes, passing over the corpse of its fallen brethren. Her ears pricked at the faint but very noticeable call, instructing her exactly what to do.
She ducked into a crouch and rolled forwards in sync with her heartbeat, hearing the muffled sounds of claws digging into flesh and frantic, frenzied snarls behind her as the puffs of dust rose from Rens feet touching the ground. He had successfully lured two Beowolves to the exact point where they would collide. Now they fought amongst themselves, leaving Ren and Nora with two wounded Beowolves, one fresh Grimm and one Alpha. It still remained at the edge of the clearing but Ren didn't have time to consider its actions as he swiftly avoided a series of claw swipes, arching his back just enough to hear the whistling sound of the attacks nearly brushing his skin. His facial expression didn't change.
Another cry of "Hhhhyyaaaah!" reached his ears and his eyes, with Nora colliding full-force with Rens attacker in a full on body slam, using the impact to allow her to land neatly by her partner while the Beowolf scrabbled for grip against the forest floor. It lunged almost immediately but despite the speed with which it moved - Ren was faster. He threw one of his guns directly into the air, nimbly ducking underneath the Beowolves attack and ramming the blade of his remaining weapon into its lower jaw. Without hesitation Ren bounded into the air, leaving the Grimm confused and dazed on the ground. He pinpointed his angle of attack mid-air, casting his arm to the sky with perfect timing.
Nora watched in awe and Ren skilfully caught his weapon in his hand and brought it downwards in an arc that utilized all of his falling momentum to give his blow as much force as possible. The Beowolf didn't stand a chance, with Ren ramming his other gun into the top of its skull to end its life in an uncharacteristically showy but no less efficient display of death. Nora watched gleefully at the remaining two injured Beowolves turned tail and fled, leaving one Grimm standing. Ren calmly retrieved StormFlower from the corpse and took a few slow steps to the center of the clearing, standing alongside his partner.
Smouldering bodies littered the area, the deep crimson blood staining everything black besides the two students. Somehow they had both kept themselves spotlessly clean, and now they faced the Alpha Beowolf together.
It towered over them, at least twice as tall as the teenagers that had slaughtered the majority of its entire pack. They could both hear the low growl emanating from its jaws, watching the beast for any indication of movement. Nora resisted the urge to charge per Rens request, knowing better than to recklessly hurl herself at something far bigger than she was. The scolding she had received after initiation was followed by a logical explanation and, much to Rens relief, Nora agreed to fight a little more defensively around larger opponents.
She held Magnhild protectively across her chest, her posture primed to move at the slightest provocation while Ren merely watched the Grimm for the telltale signs of an attack. The gap between their actions was fractional.
The Beowolf lunged, and no more than a half second later Nora leapt forwards with her hammer held high, leaving Ren to question her self-preservation as the two combatants began their duel.
