Blake was carefully seated on top of a partially-destroyed stone wall that wrapped around the relics. At the moment, she was unable to focus. Looking into the forest made her anxious; she was sure Ruby was fine, but listening to the pitter-patter of the pacing blonde's footsteps below was getting to Blake. She felt no relief now that Yang was finally taking this seriously. If anything, the change in mood made her more uncomfortable, since it gave her the bad feeling that Yang might do something drastic.
A huntress coming to Beacon was expected to be skilled and smart; the preliminary tests were by no means difficult, even for somebody who had not attended the intermediate academies, but unlike Haven—which accepted pay in place of skill—or Atlas—which accepted all students provided they took the Mantle Soldier's Oath and stayed in service—or Shade—which accepted anybody who passed even the bare minimum of the entrance test—Beacon was selective.
This wasn't a necessarily a bad thing. Many students planned to join Haven or Shade, unless they were from the Solitas continent, in which case Atlas was the expected choice. Beacon, however, got between four-hundred to five-hundred applicants a year, and only a little under half of those were accepted. It was said that Professor Ozpin himself presided over selections, choosing only those with 'potential.' Many Beacon students came out strong, and from what she'd read at home, one team of Beacon hunters was worth at least a platoon of Atlas soldiers.
Blake's preliminary test had been nothing special. She'd been fourth overall in combat, first in reconnaissance, and third in field recovery. She was exceptional without dwarfing every other hunter. Her skill was born from years of special operations and fighting on the edge of civilization against better equipped opponents, and Professor Ozpin himself seemed to recognize precisely what she was, both what she was and why she had come to the Academy. He seemed sympathetic, gentle, friendly, willing to give her what she wanted. It made her suspicious, but this was apparently his default state.
Blake looked down at her fellow hunters, silently judging them. Yang was strong, but full of herself. Ren and Nora were clearly in this together for the long haul, yet Blake remained none-too-keen on inter team romances. The other four, however, one was astounding, one was intriguing, one was a fool, and the last one…
Blake grit her teeth. It would be easy to send an anonymous tip to her old stomping grounds, to let them know exactly where to ambush in the coming weeks. The gain they would get from having a Schnee in their camp would be phenomenal. Morale would be up, they'd have political clout with a hostage, they'd have their hands around the throat of their oppressor…
And even then, all Blake could picture was the white-haired girl thrown into a dingy little cage with the barest scraps to nibble on, dirty water to drink, while her former comrades would take any excuse to let loose some stress. Blake couldn't bear the thought. She was a revolutionary, not a terrorist, she would never stoop so low. Even if the girl's presence was utterly insufferable, she had no desire to hand her over to the monsters her former friends had become…
Blake squeezed her elbows and suddenly shivered as dark words whispered in the back of her head. 'That's why you're weak, that's why you ran, because you don't have the guts to do what needs to be done…'
She closed her eyes, and silently counted to twenty-seven before the shivers and acid-pit in her stomach dissipated. She was not a monster. No matter what the news said, no matter what anyone said, she was Blake Belladonna. She was a fighter for the civil rights of her people! Not a killer, or a kidnapper, or a slanderer. She would not dirty her hands in Schnee blood out of revenge. That was petty.
And Blake was not petty.
Yang slowed her pacing to stare out into the forest one more time. She'd be back to her normal speed in another couple steps, but she kept waiting for a sudden show of red to rush out of that green, hopefully with Jaune or Pyrrha immediately behind her. Yang had to repeatedly remind herself that her sister was a trained huntress, just not formally trained, but kind-of roughly trained by a soggy old drunk who was skilled. Though Ruby barely kept herself on her feet in a one-on-one fight, she did fine against Grimm, and-
"Blake!" Yang suddenly spoke up, forcibly jarring her own thoughts to stop the rising bubble of fear in her chest. Yang looked up to where her partner was seated and stopped herself from calling again. Blake was sitting in the lotus position, torso slightly leaned forward, head tilted down, staring at the bricks she sat upon with furious intensity. She was deep in thought and looked troubled, and Yang wasn't sure if interrupting her would be appreciated.
Yang looked down at the ground in quiet discomfort. She'd be just fine once she knew where Ruby was. She kept pacing.
A few feet away, sitting at the edge of the stone circle, Ren and Nora watched the treeline expectantly. Theoretically, nothing was stopping them from heading straight back to their proctors and presenting their find. Such a thought passed through Ren's head.
"Hmm. Nora?" He spoke up, though his voice was still too low for the other two girls to hear. He sat with both legs hanging off the ruin's edge, his hands comfortably crossed in his lap.
"'Sup Ren?" Nora asked, sitting with both legs curled, knees to her chin as she watched the trees.
"Why are we still here?" Ren asked gently, sneaking a hand onto Nora's thigh for a small squeeze. Nora flexed her leg, responding to his advance playfully.
"Y'know, I dunno."
"In that ca-"
"Like, what did we do to get this far in life? Why are you and I the way we are?" Nora let out a contemplating hum as Ren ignored the impulse to sigh. "Is the universe really that random? Is there no real reason other than the decisions we've made and random chance? You think there's actually gods running around dictating the way the dominoes fall?" Nora fell silent as Ren admired how strong her thighs had gotten. "I dunno Ren, but it keeps me up at night."
"Mm." Was all Ren had to lend on the matter. He'd give them another five minutes before he'd bring the topic up again.
Things fell silent for the most part, with the four teenagers lost in thought and wondering where their fellow test-takers were. The silence and inaction was making them nervous, for a variety of reasons. Blake was ready to recommend to Yang that they go into the forest and look for Ruby—and escape the uncomfortable thoughts having to deal with Weiss Schnee—when she spotted something bright between the tree trunks.
She stood. The sudden movement caught Yang's attention, and she followed Blake's gaze out at the forest. Yang jumped over Nora and Ren, both immediately tensing and pulling themselves to a ready position as Yang landed on her feet, crouched to take the shock, then sprinted forward a couple of steps with her heart beating.
"Ruby?!" Yang called out. All that answered her cry was the sound of rustling brush and a snapping twig. From the trees, a girl in pure white ran out, slowing down as her eyes met Yang's. Weiss stared at Yang, sucking in deep breaths, Myrtenaster hanging by her side, and Crescent Rose looming over her shoulder like death creeping up behind her. Yang stared at the panting, anxious Weiss, then to Ruby's scythe.
Blake leapt off the stone wall and ran after Yang as the blonde wrapped her hands around Weiss's throat. Nora and Ren were both ahead of her, the three of them latching onto Yang as the taller girl held a squirming Weiss up with an angry roar.
"Brute!" Weiss managed to squeak out as she was lifted and shaken.
"Where is my sister?!" Yang shouted, trying to shake Weiss harder, but four hands grabbed her bulging upper arms and pulled, forcing her to drop Weiss as Nora and Ren tugged Yang back and held her. "Let go of me, damnit, that's Ruby's scythe!"
Blake swiftly stepped around the struggling blonde and knelt down next to Weiss. The girl in white was coughing into her hands, looking defeated and exhausted as Blake stared at her, at the Schnee. Weiss looked back at her with a small frown, her blue eyes wide with worry and confusion, and Blake had to bite back a strong inclination to let her fend for herself. She would not be petty. "Weiss Schnee." She said the name robotically, trying to hide the venom in her tone.
"Ugh." Weiss got to her feet unsteadily, using Blake's shoulder to held herself up. Blake didn't like the touch, but she wasn't sure what throwing the girl off would help. She grit her teeth. She had to act normal, even towards the Schnee. "Ruby's been captured." Weiss announced.
Yang's furious struggling stopped, her eyes focusing on Weiss again. Ren and Nora sighed in relief, then were swiftly thrown back the moment they relaxed. Yang stormed forward, sticking a finger into Weiss's face. "What the hell are you talking about? Where is she?!" Yang demanded.
Weiss grabbed Yang's finger and tugged it away, gritting her teeth as she suppressed her anger. "Don't point fingers like it's my fault. We fought off a pack of Beowolves, but a Nevermore grabbed her. I've been trying to track it but I lost sight of it."
"A Nevermore?" Ren's surprised voice sounded. He moved to Yang's side, watching Weiss with the color in his already-pale face draining away. "Where?" Nora was quiet and stiff by his side, her normal playful energy turning into something far more worrisome.
"Where?! The sky, where do you think?!" Weiss was noticeably shaking, her eyes wide and anxious and her eyes closed in tight fists at her side. "If I knew where the nest was I'd be heading straight for it, but I don't know where it went and if we don't hurry, Ruby's as good as dead." Weiss spoke the word with strong finality in her tone, and the other four hunters shared a very real moment of fear.
Blake looked to the sky quietly. She had some experience with Nevermores. She'd lost a couple of comrades to sudden caravan raids. They were swift, so fast that the sound of rippling air gave the unsuspecting hardly the time to react before somebody was already in their claws. When the rush of wind was over and the group looked around and realized there was somebody missing, the massive Grimm was already far out of reach of most conventional weaponry, with a struggling prize in hand.
She'd never seen what a Nevermore's nest looked like, but from the stories, it was gruesome. Like many common ravens, they were smart, inquisitive creatures, but filtered through the Grimm's cruelty it meant they were sadistic. Search parties coming back to camp were often sullen and squeamish, describing one of their companions left with a single arm, a chest full of holes, and missing both eyes while the Nevermore, having flown away at the sign of trouble, seemed to crow mockingly at them from a distance.
Nevermores were bad news. Blake thought about the little huntress in red, and a stone formed in her stomach. The thought of somebody getting killed made her queasy enough, but the thought of it being somebody so innocent and bubbly made it so much worse. She looked to Yang, to see how the blonde was taking this.
Silently, it seemed. Weiss flinched as a hand shot past her head, and pulled Crescent Rose off Weiss's back. Blake, Weiss, Nora, and Ren all watched as Yang held the shaft in two places, releasing the catches and collapsing the weapon into a blocky red sniper rifle. She lifted the rifle, adjusting its scope to her liking as she stared down the sight, then looked to Weiss with a serious expression. "What am I looking for?"
"What do you-" Weiss began to rant, but she was stopped cold by the dark look Yang gave her. "Nevermore, up near the clouds, about the size of an airbus." Ren shared a look with Nora. Nevermores were typically car-sized, Nevermores that massive were the product of old age. "Flying north, Ruby's in its left talon."
Yang swung the rifle north, staring down the scope. Blue skies and white clouds would make it easy for a pitch-black Grimm to be seen, but the sky appeared empty. She slowly scanned, sector by sector, like her father and school had taught her, until she spotted something. It looked like a perfectly normal bird in the distance. Flapping black wings, riding the wind trails, it was impossible to tell… until it flew towards a cloud.
In Yang's experience, birds typically flew beneath the clouds, not through them. This one was trying to not be seen. She focused her eye, and made small adjustments using the bottom left of Crescent Rose's frame. Yang set her jaw, held her breath, and squeezed the trigger.
The other four jumped at the sharp retort of the sniper rifle, but immediately strained their eyes to see what Yang was firing at. Just barely visible in the distance was a black speck flying so high, it could have been mistaken for a piece of dirt in the eye. Yang fired off a second shot with her teeth gritted.
"Nora." Ren spoke up, marching away from the group. Nora was by his side in an instant, holding his shoulder in quiet worry as they began to head north.
"Think we can catch up?" Nora asked, her voice trembling.
"We have no choice." Ren began to sprint, Nora following close behind him. Blake was going to say something, tell them to wait up, but instead stared at Yang, the blonde begining to openly sweat as she kept herself calm, and her eye still looking down the sights.
Ren and Nora crested the hill to the north of the ruins, and were gone from sight after a few seconds. Blake rested a hand on Yang's stiff shoulder. "We should follow them." She said, an edge of command in her voice.
"I can make the shot." Yang insisted. She didn't sound confident about it.
"Yang, it's a hard shot, we need to go after them. The sooner we track it to its nest-"
"I can make the shot." Yang's teeth clicked together as she spoke. She pulled the trigger again. The black speck in the distance didn't falter.
"It's too far, the bullet will lose its momentum! Even if you somehow hit it, you're-"
Yang interrupted Weiss with a hiss, "It has my sister. I will make the shot."
Blake and Weiss shared a quiet look. Weiss took a deep breath, ran a few ideas through her head, and worked her jaw. "Yang, I will help you if you listen to me." Weiss spoke slowly. Yang said nothing, did nothing. Only the shifting of her eyes let Weiss know she was listening. "Aim a few meters ahead of it." Weiss drew Myrtenaster off her hip, and, like a director before her orchestra, slowly waved the sword's tip back and forth in front of Rose's barrel.
Blake had heard of the Schnee family's semblance, how it defied all known logic of semblances, self-perpetuating itself through a single family. In the past, it was considered proof of their "cheating" or their "superior genes." Blake personally felt it was just too unfair for such a rich family to have a semblance that wasn't just incredibly strong and versatile, but also genetic. In that moment, however, watching the sparkling yellow snowflake form in front of the sniper rifle's barrel, she could only hope that it was as powerful as it was made out to be.
"I got this." Yang murmured.
"Make sure you aim ahead of it."
"I got-"
"Just make sure." Blake interrupted her. Yang swallowed thickly, then did as she was told.
After a second of hesitation, she pulled the trigger.
It took everything in Ruby's willpower to stay conscious. The air was so thin this high up that a single gasp barely filled her lungs, but even worse was the Grimm clutching her, squeezing the air from her lungs every time she struggled. Above her, the rancid-smelling Nevermore flapped its wings with casual grace, unconcerned with the world below it now that it had a prize.
Ruby was putting a lot of energy towards not freaking out. She heard what Nevermores did to their victims. She'd never figured that just being carried was so painful. The Nevermore liked to play with her, loosening its grip just enough for her to suck in a breath before it clamped down, making her choke and lose the air.
Its claw carefully squeezed her, making her left arm ache as it was crushed against her ribs. Ruby let out a quiet moan of pain, then panted for breath in the thin upper atmosphere. The world of green below her seemed surprisingly peaceful from up here. She was so far out of touch from the troubles on the ground in the sky...
Ruby could barely focus on her thoughts. Her head was aching from the forced panting; the lack of oxygen was making her body feel weak and tired. The Nevermore's grip on her loosened just enough for her to take a deep breath of air, but then it squeezed down harder, making her cry out in pain. Even her aura was struggling to keep it at bay. Without it, she likely would have broken her bones just trying to breath.
The Nevermore continued its leisurely flight back to its nest, knowing full well its plaything had no chance of escape. It relaxed its grip to let her breath, then squeezed to listen to her pant and whimper. Age gave Grimm rudimentary emotions, beyond pure rage, and the Nevermore had recently discovered the feeling of "satisfaction." This little human, a treat it would enjoy making yip, scream, and cry, would give it the satisfaction of patiently waiting to end her life.
Ruby feebly gripped the squeezing talon with one hand, trying to loosen it even a little, but it only held on tighter. Her eyes went fuzzy as the breath was forced out of her. It was too tight to take in a breath. Her lungs were burning, sweat pouring off her face as the dreadful reality of death began to set in on her. She could hear the feeble scratching in the back of her skull.
They were afraid like her.
When its grip loosened, she took as deep a breath she could and hung her head, staring at the ground, resting as her body ached and her head pounded. She could barely think.
However, her ears picked up a sound.
Like a circuit breaker being flipped on, the sound of electricity filled the air, and Ruby opened her eyes in time to see a pure white beam to fill her vision. She barely had time to gasp as the Nevermore screamed in pain, the crackling beam punching a large hole through its tail feathers.
Ruby screamed as the Nevermore's flight became erratic. The horribly slow, torturous flight was suddenly turbulent, a smoke trail having taken the place of the Nevermore's tail as it began to fall. It flapped its wings, keeping a steady descent, but without its tail it was having difficulties steering, and the pain rendered it difficult to keep its high altitude.
The Nevermore let out a frustrated cry as it realized its nest would be too far beyond its reach at this point. It shifted its wings and began to dive, trying to control its flight path as it sped towards a temporary roost.
Ruby remained still in its tightening grasp, too weak to fight back. The scratching in the back of her head turned to soft whimpers, then silence. Ruby hung limply, taking shallow breaths as the darkness at the edges of her vision closed in and sucked her into a dream.
"Whoa." Jaune stopped, having rounded the corner of the stone archways and walls he and Pyrrha been jogging along.
Pyrrha silently agreed with his assessment.
Jutting out over the mist-filled canyon they'd been following was the proud remains of what had been an incredible accomplishment of mankind. The passage of time had left the once-glorious structure worn, and covered with twisting vines and mosses, but the temple that had audaciously gleamed in the wilderness in ages past now rested in silence, swallowed up by the very nature it had defied.
With carefully crafted catwalks and tall towers, the ruins carried questions of "what?" and "why?" With no answers readily given, it seemed to draw a childlike curiosity from the two teens.
"I doubt the relics the headmaster would want us to find are here." Pyrrha said mindfully. Despite her doubts, her feet moved in step behind Jaune as the boy wandered closer to the stone bridge connecting the edge of the low cliff to the tower in the center of the canyon. It seemed to serve as a sort of hub for more bridges to connect to several other towers, as well as an odd building set into another, taller cliffside.
"Like, do we know for sure?" Jaune asked. He pressed the tip of his toes against the stone pathway, testing its sturdiness, then rested his entire weight on said foot. The stones, aged and worn by weather, still held true. With a reckless grin forming, Jaune stepped out onto suspended road as Pyrrha stood between the pillars marking where the pathway started.
"He never described them." Pyrrha acknowledged, watching Jaune cautiously, listening for the sounds of shifting stone. "I suppose they could be here."
"Then what's the hold up?" Jaune waved her over.
"I just have a... bad feeling about this place." Pyrrha called after him. She couldn't shake the idea that, despite being dealt a definitive blow, and disappearing into the cloudy, rapidly-steepening canyon, the Deathstalker was still pursuing them. Grimm had some semblance, for lack of a better word, of logic, vague inklings of survival instinct, but more than either of those things, they held an unrelenting grudge against mankind. Nobody could explain their existence, anatomy, or purpose. But that was a question for scholars and philosophers. Hunters existed to protect their fellow men and women through blade and bullet, not through questions and beliefs.
"Well I have a good feeling." Jaune replied. He turned around, walking backwards with a smile on his face and his arms outstretched. "I have a feeling we're about to pass this test! I mean, why else would this still be here?" He turned back around to gesture up to the central tower, along with the numerous connected bridges between it and the other structures. Overall, it seemed quite random, and Jaune slowed down to give the layout a better look. "What do you think this was used for? The Color Wars?" He called over his shoulder.
Pyrrha examined the stone, noting the odd intersection of bridges and towers, as well as how overly exposed the whole thing was. She cautiously walked down the steps, standing at one end of the bridge as Jaune stood on the other. She gulped loudly. "Well… I do not believe so. If I were to guess, it was more than likely built for religious purposes. Being so far out in the wilderness, it may have served as a testing grounds of some sort, perhaps as a place of respite and isolation from others."
"Cool." Jaune turned to face Pyrrha again, waving his arms as he spoke. "I'll check out the back, if you wanna see the upper floor of the tower! If we don't find anything, I'll take the left tower, you take the right!"
Pyrrha let out a small chuckle as she took a few cautious steps forward. "Shield left or sword left?" She called out, trying to ignore the growing feeling of dread.
"Shield left!" Jaune waved his left arm. "Always shield lef-!" Jaune's exclamation was cut off by the sound of something huge slicing through the air, and a massive, black shape dove between the two hunters.
Pyrrha stepped back with a startled gasp, Miló immediately in her hand as the largest Nevermore she'd ever seen beat the air with its enormous wings, pulling up at the very last second to perch at the top of the left tower, albeit unsteadily. Its tail feathers were gone, replaced by fading smoke, and possibly shame.
The raven Grimm stood on the tower on one foot, its enormity defying Pyrrha's belief. She had seen pictures of Nevermore that had dwarfed their prey before, but she always attributed it to fanciful over-exaggeration. No, the monster before her made the tower it stood on shake, dust billowing off with each steadying flap of its wings, turning a structure large enough for human habitation into a simple bird perch.
Jaune held Crocea Mors at the ready, expecting the massive bird to immediately attack, but it merely stood in quiet contemplation. His eyes outlined its form. He had heard a little about Nevermores, about their sadistic streaks and surprise attacks, yet he knew next to nothing of their behavior and fighting ability. Where did one hit a bird to kill it? Jaune always assumed wherever you could, but with Grimm it was a different story.
His eyes reached the beast's left foot, and his heart stopped. The vibrant red cloak, the black dress, the pale skin, he recognized her. The small figure was clutched precariously in the beast's claws, arms hanging limply, before the massive raven unceremoniously tossed her onto the tower's roof. Jaune glanced at Pyrrha, and saw her bringing out her shield.
Without a word, Jaune ran into the central tower, forcing his legs to carry him faster than he was used to. Power surged through him as strength he'd never felt before gave him the speed he needed. He twisted and slid, catching himself in order to run down the bridge towards the occupied tower. He looked up to the bird as it lifted its head, Ruby held in its beak by her stomach.
Sweat poured down his forehead. Jaune ran as hard as he could, crossing the bridge as the bird lifted its head to open its esophagus and let the young woman slide in. Panic filled Jaune as he saw her begin to slip…
The Nevermore's head jerked as the side of its face exploded, the girl in its beak falling loose and landing on the roof as the Nevermore turned to stare at Pyrrha. Miló, now a hunter's rifle, tracked the enraged bird's head before another explosive dust round filled its eyes with heat and pain.
The screaming beast threw its wings wide in an intimidating challenge and leapt from its perch, using its dulled flight to bear down on the autumn-haired huntress. Akoúo̱ flew to Pyrrha's right arm, and she begged her legs to carry her to the central tower as fast as they could.
A white talon tussled the very tip of her ponytail as she avoided raking claws and an angry beak. The Nevermore turned awkwardly for roughly land against the right tower's side. Bricks shifted, dust stirred, a dangerous rumble came from the ancient structure, but it held fast as the Nevermore crawled on top to watch for its attackers.
Jaune ran into the tower through a tall, skinny archway. He ignored the mauled, discarded papers and books, the snapped and rusted candelabras, and headed straight for the spiraling stairway. His heart pounded as his aura steadily depleted itself to empower his legs.
When daylight broke through his dark ascent, Jaune took the stairs two at a time, reaching the top of the tower. Resting on top of the shattered centerpiece was Ruby Rose.
Jaune hauled himself onto the slanted, broken structure, crawling his way towards the unconscious girl. She lay still and silent, with only the gentle rising of her chest to suggest she was still alive. A dangerous mixture of emotions ran through Jaune as he stared at the girl.
His fingertips touched her cheek, Ruby's brow wrinkling in peaceful distress. Jaune couldn't imagine Ruby was awake, and was tempted to remove the goggles for the reassurance that her eyes would open as he gently slapped at her cheeks. Her breathing grew stressed and erratic, her fingers twitched, and Jaune gulped.
His hands slipped underneath the tight rubber around her goggles to pull, but a hand wrapped around his wrist. "Don't you dare." She ordered, weakly. Jaune felt relief flood through him as he lifted her head, cradling her in his arms as he stared into her eyes, or rather, her goggles. "Jaune?"
"Are you okay?" Jaune asked her. She didn't seem okay, but slowly she roused and pulled herself into a sitting position, using Jaune as a support to lean against as she examined herself, and worked her limbs slowly and stiffly.
"Um... better. You?" Ruby asked, looking into his wide, blue eyes. His breathing came in short, anxious pants. He was staring at Ruby like she was some sort of anomaly. Jaune pulled Ruby close, holding her head to his chest with one hand as the other fumbled with his hip satchel. "Jaune?" Ruby murmured, quietly enjoying the physical affection. Her memory was reasserting itself; monsters were afoot.
"I'm fine." He held a granola bar to Ruby's lips, but they curled in disgust. "C'mon Ruby, your Aura-"
"Nooooo…" She whined, pushing the bar away. Jaune's expression hardened in annoyance at her childishness, but she opened her own belt pouch. His annoyance turned to private envy as Ruby pulled out two crumbly, slightly-crushed chocolate chip cookies. Ruby swallowed them both in the time Jaune would have taken to enjoy one bite, and with Jaune supporting her, she stared at her hands.
Jaune had just come to terms that aura came in different colors depending on its owner. Pyrrha was a piercing blood red, his own was a heavenly gold, but Ruby's aura, which surged to life around her as she digested her treat and enjoyed simple human contact, was black, like an ink stain spreading over her body. Jaune elected to ignore the omen, he was much more fond of the girl who produced it.
"Hee." She gave him a tiny, tired smile. "You look super worried."
"I thought you were gonna die, Ruby." Jaune couldn't help but smile as he stood and carefully balanced himself on the slanted ground. He lifted Ruby with him, helping the girl to unsteady footing. Ruby leaned against him, took a deep breath, and shook her head.
"Not with you around, clearly." She smacked his shoulder fondly, and the two shared a small smile. The moment was interrupted as several metric tons of enraged demon bird crashed into the tower they were both standing on, making them grab each other for balance as the Nevermore lifted its massive head, stared at the two in barely controlled rage, and screamed.
Ruby reached behind her back and grabbed at the air, her body twitching in shock. "Crescent Rose?!" She squeaked in terror, then stared back at the furious bird Grimm. Its head reared back, then dove forward, its pointed black beak destroying solid stone as the two hunters leapt out of the way.
Jaune had learned something today that proved valuable in this instance: retreat was totally the right thing to do sometimes. It was certainly a lot more noble if it was with a girl, or at least he assumed so. Protect the ladies, right? That's why he came here? Something like that. Either way, Ruby held bridal-style in his arms, Jaune's legs ached in protest as he fled down the staircase, the Nevermore's beak punching holes in the walls behind them. Outside the tower, the Nevermore clung to the sides using its talons and hooked wingtips, peering through windows and smashing its beak into the stone again and again.
Ruby clung to the blonde, her lips peeled back in fright, as they hit the ground floor and sped out of the bridge. She turned to look over Jaune's shoulder as the enormous bird turned its head to glare at them in fury. Clearly, this Nevermore was not used to disappointment. As Jaune sprinted to the central tower, he heard the sharp crack of a rifle from up above.
Pyrrha knelt at the top of the tower, peppering the Nevermore with bullet after bullet as it flit around the left tower to avoid her shots. It was a tough bird, letting out tiny whines with each hit, but nothing dislodged it or dissuaded it. Pyrrha ejected an empty dust-bullet magazine and slapped in a new one. By the time she refocused her aim, the Nevermore had slipped off the building and was flying low, into the mists obscuring the canyon below.
Pyrrha let out a small sigh. It appeared that she had driven it away for the moment, but Nevermores were notoriously stubborn. She kept her rifle at the ready as she jogged to the stairs, eventually seeing Jaune and Ruby standing at the bottom floor at opposite ends of the room, scanning the mist below. "Anything?" Pyrrha asked, her voice tight.
"Nuh uh." Ruby shook her head. She looked back to Pyrrha as the redhead put her hand on her shoulder. Pyrrha very seriously inspected her face, her body, touching her arms as Ruby puffed up her cheeks in a kiddy pout. "Heeey…"
"It is important to check for breaks or over exhaustion. Do you feel well? Is your aura optimal?" Pyrrha looked into Ruby's goggles, ignoring the slight annoyance at the obscured view.
"It's coming back." Ruby murmured insistently.
"Good. Jaune?" Pyrrha turned to the blonde boy, who nodded his head.
"I think we're safe." He took a breath.
As one, he and Ruby both spoke up, "We should get outta here."
Pyrrha blinked at the two of them as they completely ignored their moment of accidental unity. The redhead sighed. She agreed, however, now that the idea was in her head. Holding down the fort here was pointless.
The three of them stepped out onto the bridge, quickly looking into the mists below for any sign of the Nevermore, before jogging steadily towards the cliffside. Jaune had his sword and shield drawn, and Pyrrha kept Miló in its rifle form. The yawning stillness of the moment unsettled the three, Ruby especially, fretting over her missing weapon.
Jaune was not a man who appreciated cruel irony, if that was what the following moment could be called. Evil coincidence? Sadistic development? He was unsure, but his face slackened in disbelief as the three hunters slowed, skid to a halt, and stared.
From the mists, the Nevermore emerged, its wings beating with powerful down strokes as it rose with something in its talons. Somehow, someway, Pyrrha had been correct. Held between its claws, its deadly stinger held far away from the bird, the ancient Deathstalker clicked its pincers in eager anticipation of the slaughter to come.
The Nevermore set the big, old Deathstalker on the cliff, and the scorpion rapidly crawled to the bridge's edge. Its enormous claws snapped and crushed the stone pillars marking the entrance to the pathway, its many unblinking red eyes boring through the three shocked hunters as it patiently waited. The three turned to flee back to the tower when the Nevermore landed on the other end of the bridge.
"Guys?" Jaune asked. He looked from the massive, ancient scorpion Grimm to the massive, ancient raven Grimm, wearing a stunned expression. "That's cheating, right?" He asked, his voice thick with fear.
Ruby and Pyrrha had no answer. Grimm were not necessarily exclusionary creatures, but preferably stuck to their own kind. However, when humans came into the equation, anything resembling a territorial attitude was annihilated in favor for the mutual hatred spread across all Grimmkind.
The Deathstalker cared not that the Nevermore was what it was, just that it would readily join in the kill.
The two Grimm watched cautiously, knowing they had the advantage, but the precarious battlefield kept them on their proverbial toes. The three hunters looked to each other in distress.
"Ruby?!" Jaune looked to the younger girl in a panic.
"Pyrrha?!" Ruby looked to the warrior among them hopefully.
"Jaune?!" Pyrrha looked to the planner grimmly.
They looked between each other, then to the two Grimm that were waiting for the moment to strike. The Nevermore slowly took its first step, enormous wings extended. The Deathstalker was not going to risk falling, and Jaune quickly realized they'd be pushed back into the waiting pincers if they didn't do something.
"... The bird." Ruby spoke up, staring at the advancing Nevermore. Her heart was beating hard as Jaune let out a tiny, unhappy sigh.
"The bird?" Pyrrha asked, turning to face the corvid beast. She leveled her rifle at the head, making it pause to consider its actions.
"She's right." Jaune looked back at the Deathstalker, then the Nevermore. He quietly examined Crocea Mors, then presented Ruby with the hilt of his sword. Ruby's shaking hands accepted the weapon, and she took deep, calming breaths as she held it at the ready. A hunter with no weapon was easy prey, it was better that she at least had a sword and he had a shield. "The doom- err, Deaththing probably isn't gonna walk out here, and pushing it out of the way is definitely outta the question. If we get past the bird, we get to the tower."
"We would still be trapped." Pyrrha pointed out in a tense voice, then let out a defeated sigh. "But, I would rather be trapped in the tower than on the bridge."
"Exactly." Jaune nodded. Pyrrha held her arm out, Akoúo̱ flying off her back and into her grip in front of Jaune. The blonde boy paled slightly at the offer, but took the shield. "Okay, so, Pyrrha? Covering fire. Ruby and I will rush it."
"What?! No!" Ruby looked back at Jaune with a pout, making him flail his arms in a rage. The Nevermore screamed at the three hunters, making them cringe before it took another challenging step forward. Pyrrha fired a shot at its foot, making it step back with an ugly squawk.
"Then what Ruby?!" Jaune demanded.
Ruby slowed her breathing, taking deep, calming breaths as she stared at the Nevermore thoughtfully. Its feathers were beginning to bristle, it was done waiting, it knew they had no solid plan. "Cover Pyrrha. I'll rush it."
"Wha—are you crazy—RUBY!" Jaune reached an arm out as Ruby charged the Nevermore with a defiant cry. A rifle shot flew high over her head and struck the Nevermore's neck as the air was filled with enormous, sharp black feathers. Ruby slipped left and right, narrowly avoiding the flechette storm, her ears filled with slicing blades as Jaune's sword sparkled black with her power.
Pyrrha grabbed Jaune's shoulder and the two of them ducked, Jaune holding the two shields out and wailing in fright as a dozen razor sharp blades bounced off the metal protecting them both. Behind them, the Deathstalker screeched in rage and cautiously creeped out onto the bridge a few feet, its long stinger jabbing at the air, just out of reach of the two hunters. Pyrrha turned, repositioning her feet for a solid shooting stance and fired at the Deathstalker's stinger.
The Nevermore primed its head as Ruby sped towards it, silently evaluating distance, then lunged. Its beak smashed through the stone that made up the bridge, and the whole structure began to moan at the damage to its integrity as Ruby ran up the bird's neck, jumping high as it pulled its head back. She plunged downwards, burying Crocea Mors into the Nevermore's back between its wings, and a pained scream filled the air as the bird began to buck and step back, Ruby hanging onto the sword's handle for dear life.
"Ruby!" Jaune roared as he stood up, "Hang on, I'm coming!" Jaune took a step forward, when Pyrrha kicked out his legs and sent him crashing on his back. Panic and fury filled Jaune's gut until he looked straight up at the bulbous yellow stinger that had nearly perforated his spine. It began to dawn on him that, just maybe, this hunter business was far more difficult than it appeared.
He pulled himself to his feet as quickly as he could and let out a sharp gasp, dancing to the left and teetering on the edge of the bridge as the stinger struck again, narrowly missing its mark, and a stomach-churning weight pulled at his shoulders as he flapped his arms to try and regain his balance.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha reached out and grabbed his wrist, while Jaune grabbed the closest thing to him: the Deathstalker's tail. There was a half second where both hunters were given the opportunity to reflect on the stupidity of this action before the tail yanked back. Jaune screamed first, followed by Pyrrha's slightly more dignified whine of terror as the two teens were violently pulled off their feet. The Deathstalker, feeling the extra weight, recoiled its tail as hard as it could and sent the two teens flying over its head.
Pyrrha heard the wind shrieking in her ears, her body moving faster than it had ever moved before, before unceremoniously smashing through one of the old stone pillars, sending shockwaves of pain through her body before she hit the ground, skidding across the grass with a pained cry. She grit her teeth, eyes closed, resting on her stomach while her fingernails dug into her palms from agony. Her aura had taken the hit, and was quite brutally reminding her that that was not a good thing. She opened her eyes in shock as a hand touched her back, and she lifted her chin to see Jaune standing over her with a worried expression.
"Jaune…" She whispered, her eyes sparkling with moisture as the boy gave her a comforting smile.
"Take a moment, partner." He told her. She gave him a pained smile, then Jaune looked up sharply. He stood, picking up his shield and Akoúo̱ and stepped over her. Pyrrha risked a look over her shoulder to see the ancient Deathstalker scuttling closer, stopping a few meters short as Jaune stood between it and Pyrrha. A shudder escaped the redhead as the Deathstalker made a chittering noise, sounding almost amused at the boy's defiance.
Pyrrha arched her shoulders and pushed herself up with her hands, ignoring the numbness that was trying to seep into her. She'd nearly faded. The realization sent a bolt of fright up her spine, but she could move, she could think-
"Hi-yah!" Jaune shouted. Pyrrha looked over her shoulder again at the sounds of battle. The Deathstalker was more aggressive than ever, its stinger diving again and again, but Jaune kept battering the tail away with the shields. It raised its claws in annoyance, and scuttled forward with its pincers outstretched.
Jaune should have run, kept his distance from the scorpion, but he was not an experienced hunter in the slightest. One on one, he would most assuredly die, and yet he stood his ground, roared his anger, and thrust the shields out to catch the Stalker's pincers trying to surround him. Pyrrha pulled herself up, willing her legs to feel. She stood unsteadily on her heels, her knees trying to lock up from shock, but that stinger reared back.
Pyrrha let out a gasp, every instinct telling her to charge and grab her partner, pull him out of danger, but her shaking legs refused to listen. She managed a step, to reach out, to cry his name as Jaune closed his eyes while the stinger launched straight at his head.
The clash of metal-on-metal rang through the air, rather than the feared sound of Jaune's head exploding. Pyrrha stared with wide eyes, her arm falling limp. Lie Ren stood above the ground, legs braced on the Deathstalker's pincers as Storm Flower's sickles held the tip of the stinger to the left of his face, the boy's subtle strength keeping the tail still.
Lie Ren suddenly jumped, executing a perfect backflip-into-flip-kick to the bottom of the stinger's base, punting the tail high into the air before split-kicking the pincers open, freeing Jaune of the scorpion's grasp. The Deathstalker, Jaune, and Pyrrha both seemed utterly stunned at the acrobatics, with the Stalker hardly making any noise as it tried to figure out precisely what happened.
Lie Ren landed, legs bent in a low squat as he took a deep breath, and launched himself backwards into Jaune. Jaune let out a yelp of surprise as Ren sent them both skidding away from the scorpion. With a comfortable distance between them, Ren raised his hand and made a signal Jaune didn't recognize.
A delighted whoop was the only thing the three of them heard as a half-ton of pure force seemingly fell out of the sky in the shape of a tiny young lady with a very big hammer. The sound of bones breaking, earth crumbling, and stone structures shuddering filled the air as Nora's hammer head found its home in the top of the Deathstalker's skull.
The massive scorpion was forced onto its belly, its legs crumpling from the impact, a tiny, almost pathetic whimper escaping it as its centuries-old bone plate armor cracked, flaked, and fell apart all around it. The massive creature slumped, pincers and tail falling flat with little flair as Nora lifted her hammer, took a deep breath, and beamed at Ren.
"Very good, Nora." Ren said glowingly, stepping out of Jaune's personal space as the redhead did a happy little dance. "Though we need to keep moving."
"Right!" Nora suddenly gasped. The two of them turned to face Jaune and Pyrrha, both of whom were staring at the couple in silent awe. Ren looked from Jaune to Pyrrha, noting the latter was doubled over, looking unsteady. Nora watched her man purposefully walk over to Pyrrha and take her shoulders. "Hands above the chest, Maximus!" Nora called over with a small growl.
"I know, Nora." Ren called back, touching Pyrrha's chin and looking her in the eye. They were clear, green, and focusing on his face with a mixture of curiosity and embarrassment, but she did not pull away or look faint.
"What's he doing?" Jaune murmured to Nora, shaking himself of his shock.
"Making sure she didn't fade, or that better be all he's doing 'cuz ooooooh if that boy decides I'm not the only redhead he needs in his life there will be a full round of high explosives I gotta deliver." Nora hefted her hammer, shifting it to its grenade launcher form while grinding her teeth dangerously. Jaune wisely took a step away.
"Right… um…" Jaune looked to Nora curiously as Ren held up a finger for Pyrrha's eyes to follow, the two Mistral natives quietly conversing over her physical situation before Jaune let out a sudden gasp. "Ruby."
Ren and Nora quickly turned to watch Jaune as he ran to the edge of the cliff to look out at the stone ruins fearfully.
"You saw her?!" Nora called after him.
Jaune didn't respond. He looked left, then right, then turned towards the other three. There was wide-eyed fear in his expression, and Pyrrha forced her stiff legs to move. Ren and Nora frowned to each other, then back to the blonde, but before they could reach him, a piercing scream stole their attention.
The enormous black Nevermore flew up from the mists below, beating its massive black wings as a small, familiar girl hung onto the sword stuck into its back for dear life. Ren and Nora both went for their weapons, but the monster was flying too far out of range and weaving between the bridges, catwalks, and stone columns. Pyrrha worked her jaw, then took her rifle out again. She began to sweat a little as she took aim at the Nevermore as it attempted to scrape Ruby off of its back.
It would be a hard shot, even without Ruby dangling off of it. Pyrrha took a deep breath, focused her thoughts, and cut out all surrounding stimulus. It was just her and the bird in this moment. The great Nevermore was a little too reckless with Ruby on its back, and Pyrrha internalized the need to stop it. It only needed to be slowed so Ruby could get off.
Nora's shouts went ignored, Ren's anxious look to her went ignored, Jaune shouting for Ruby went ignored. Pyrrha opened her eyes, and allowed tunnel-vision to take over. The crowd fell silent in her mind; all she saw was her opponent and their moves.
The Nevermore was swift, but colossal. It was a very big target, but she wanted to hit either the head or the wings. She counted the seconds between the beats of its wings, watched the head turn as it prepared to swoop by. She'd need to make just the right shot.
She counted the seconds. One… two… three…
The crack of her rifle interrupted the enraged Nevermore's screeching, and a thick plume of explosive Dust erupted in its eyes. With a pained scream, it crashed head first into the rightmost tower, crushing stone and history alike as it roughly caught itself on the stone with its thick claws, wings embracing the remaining structure as it took a second to regain its senses.
With a kick, Ruby fell from the Grimm, Crocea Mors still in hand, and landed hard on her feet on the stone bridge below, before tumbling backwards onto her rump due to her shaking limbs... but she was safe. Jaune gave a low, relieved sigh.
Ren tensed, and suddenly shoved the other hunters aside before twisting around and throwing his palms out. His gentle, violet aura pulsed as the tip of the enormous yellow Deathstalker stinger tried to stab through the barrier. The Deathstalker had roused itself, its thick, bony armor falling to pieces around it, exposing softer black 'skin' underneath.
"Ren!" Nora charged, her hammer swinging down at the stinger, but it whipped back in time to leave her stumbling to catch herself. Ren's arm looped around her stomach and pulled her back to her feet as the Deathstalker gave an angry growl.
"Are. You. Kidding me?!" Jaune shouted, staring at the giant scorpion in disbelief as Pyrrha quietly frowned, reached out, and held a hand out towards Jaune. The boy was startled as the Akoúo̱ flew from his grip, and Pyrrha charged the Deathstalker with her shield ahead of her, placing herself between the scorpion and her group. "Pyrrha-"
"Jaune, go to Ruby. All three of you!" Pyrrha shouted over her shoulder, Miló transforming into a javelin as the Deathstalker focused on her alone, its three natural weapons hovering dangerously around her. There'd be little room to breath, and predicting a beast of this age and caliber wouldn't be easy…
"You can't fight it alone!" Ren shouted, but Nora held his chest and gave him a disquieting frown.
"Perhaps not, but I can buy you time. We shall regroup at the central tower!" Pyrrha turned her head and shot the three a small, forced smile. "I promise!"
The three other hunters looked between each other. Before them, Pyrrha was being menaced by the massive, ancient Deathstalker, whose poison sting would ensure her a slow and painful death. Behind them, the Nevermore was pulling itself off the tower as Ruby made a run for the central tower.
"I-I don't-" Ren muttered, squeezing his temples as he tried to force himself to think.
"W-we should get Ruby, right Jaune?" Nora whimpered.
Jaune stared at Pyrrha's back. A hundred thoughts and ideas ran through his head. The Nevermore's screech made his knees shake, and he turned to stare back as the bird latched onto the central tower, shaking it with powerful flaps of its wings.
"I-I don't- I mean somebody should help Pyrrha-"
"Jaune, go!" Pyrrha roared over her shoulder, eyes on the grimm before her.
"I-I can't, you- we-we have to- w-we're-"
"Quit waffling and figure it out!" A new voice commanded over the sounds of battle. The Deathstalker slightly turned as if it could look over its shoulder, and the four teens looked up to the line of ruins leading up to the canyon. Weiss glared down at them, Myrtenaster held at the ready. Behind her, Blake and Yang were running on top of the flat stone roofs of the ruins to watch the massive raven harassing the stone tower.
Jaune's eyebrows lifted high, and he suddenly felt a surge of confidence fill him. More people meant more manpower to throw around… and Weiss meant he could finally make a good impression! "Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, the four of us will keep the Deathstalker busy! Weiss, can you-"
"Already on it!" Weiss shouted down, racing to catch up with Yang and Blake as the two leapt high over the other four and sprint down the bridge. Weiss was hot on their heels, her leap and landing significantly more graceful, if a little slower.
Jaune was silent for a few moments. He wouldn't be saving Ruby, that was up to Weiss, Yang, and the black-haired girl. In that case, his priority was protecting his partner, himself, Ren, and Nora. That meant killing a very angry, very tough Deathstalker. Running his thumb along his jaw in quiet contemplation, Jaune took a deep breath, and slapped a hand down onto Ren's shoulder.
"Ren, I like your moves." Jaune told him, giving the somewhat surprised boy a confident smile. "Pyrrha and I are going to play bait for a little while. You try and get it where it hurts, play distraction if the two of us are having trouble."
"Wh-what about me, Jaune?!" Nora asked, looking up to him with hopeful eyes, squeezing Magnhild's pole in a death grip as Jaune looked at her thoughtfully.
"You? You hit hard. I need you to break its armor. You're going to keep smashing this coconut until it cracks wide open, got it?" He gave her the same confident look. In that moment, Nora's chest swelled with pride, and she bobbed her head eagerly.
"Operation Nutcracker is a go, chief!" She saluted with girlish enthusiasm before Jaune looked to Ren.
"Your plan has my support. I will attempt to create openings for Nora and hobble its tail, if that fits?"
"Better than what I said before!" Jaune expanded his shield, his right hand quietly itching for his sword, but sword or shield, he'd rather have his shield. "Go!"
Ren sprinted to the left, Nora to the right, Jaune charged straight forward, shield-bashing one of the Deathstalker's pincers trying to crush Akoúo̱. Nora leapt up to the stone rooftops along the pathway as Ren ran a wide semicircle around the Deathstalker to get behind it.
The massive scorpion hesitated, shifting its weight left and right as it realized it was surrounded, but it was old enough to feel pissed off, and it wanted these little squeaking monkeys dead. Its tail plunged towards the girl in front of it, once again scraping against her shield, failing to land a solid blow. Its claws snapped at Pyrrha and Jaune, to take hold of them, but they swiftly shrunk away from its attack, charging forward before it could think to try and push them back towards the cliff.
Its tail swung around in a circle like a flail, and though Pyrrha caught it on her shield, both she and Jaune were knocked to their sides by the power behind the strike. Its tail followed through to complete the circle and get back into prime position, but Ren delivered an aura-charged palm strike before the tail could right itself, crushing it into the dirt.
The force of the blow sent a wave of confusion through the scorpion, and Storm Flower's blades dug into the tail to keep it still.
"Nora!" Jaune shouted, scrambling to his feet as the Deathstalker wrenched its tail from Ren's grip, but not fast enough. The world seemed to shiver as a second meteor strike, courtesy of Nora, forced the scorpion to its belly, legs splayed out as a garbled whimper escaped it. Pain wracked its body as huge chunks of its armor flew off from the force of the impact, and it barely managed to wobble to its legs to lash out again.
Nora cackled in delight as she pulled Magnhild's trigger, revelling in the Deathstalker's surprised squeal as she was thrown out of range, while Ren scrambled out of range Jaune and Pyrrha held their shields against its claws and held them wide open. The Deathstalker screamed in unbound rage, rearing its tail back as it tried to force the two hunters away, but they held it open just long enough…
Nora leapt high, whooping loudly as she raised her hammer over her head, and the Deathstalker could only quietly realize it had been played once more. The front half of the scorpion left a deep imprint in the dirt as Magnhild crashed against the top of its head. Bone armor flew off from the strike, the world now murky and painful as the three hunters reared back to flee. A grenade detonated against the top of its head, blasting armor away and sending the smaller girl sailing back. It could feel the cool air against the soft, spongy skin beneath its armor.
It did not like that.
Its claw lashed out without warning, grabbing Pyrrha and flinging her to the side in a desperate rage. Jaune fell to his stomach as its other claw lashed out, and Nora's surprised yelped filled his ears as she was flung backwards.
Nora landed on her back hard, her grip loosening and inadvertently allowing Magnhild bounce off her stomach and over her head. She took a deep breath of air and opened her eyes wide, sitting up to get her head back in the game.
Massive pincers plunged into the earth around her torso, making her shriek in fright. She planted her palms against the pincers and pushed, but age gave Grimm strength, and the scorpion had plenty to spare. It closed its claws around her hips and held the struggling girl in place as its tail reared back.
"NORA!" Ren roared, charging towards his partner as fast as his legs would take him, that cursed yellow barb now plunging towards her heart… Ren felt the world slow as the realization hit him: he wouldn't make it, she'd be stung.
Nora held her hands out in a feeble attempt to catch the stinger, but it wouldn't have made a difference. She barely registered what happened next as two feet planted around her head, gold light erupting from the man standing over her.
A sound, much like that of a ringing gong, filled the canyon as Jaune threw the entirety of his weight into his shield as the stinger struck. "No… luck… pal!" He grunted through grit teeth, his aura a shining beacon that caused Ren to skid to a halt in wide-eyed awe.
Jaune felt it in the moment. He didn't know this girl very well, he had only just learned her name today, but he'd throw himself into hell for her. That much, he knew for sure. He didn't know why; no proper, logical, survivalist reasoning would tell him to sacrifice himself for a her, but instinct and anger drove him to do so.
How dare this Grimm try to hurt her?! Jaune knew if he'd had his sword, he'd pay back this attack tenfold, no, a hundred-fold! The monster deserved it, not just for Nora, but for every human it had hurt in its long life!
The reverberating sound reached its peak, the golden silhouette around Jaune grew blinding, and as the stinger tried to push, it crumbled. The Deathstalker made a hideous noise of pain as deep, ugly cracks shot up its stinger and sprayed the top of its exposed head with black, effluvial toxins. The Deathstalker sunk back, woozy and weary, its stinger now hanging limp and loose from the end of its tail.
Jaune stood on shaking legs, his shield glowing and pristine before his aura dissipated. The scorpion was whimpering, wracked with pain and torn apart from the repeated strikes, so Jaune allowed himself to fall to his knees as exhaustion took him. Behind him, Nora sat up and stared at the boy in wonder. "You…" Jaune panted, barely able to hold himself up on his hands and knees. "You okay… Nora?" He gasped for air.
His answer was a silent, appreciative squeeze of his muscled butt. "Dude, if your pants were any tighter, your balls would have torn out of 'em right now." Nora whispered in an amorous purr. Jaune's face did its best impression of a tomato.
Nora stepped forward, Magnhild held in front of her. Ren had no words as he looked to the blonde boy crumpled on the ground, and then his perfectly healthy, alive girlfriend. A small voice in the back of his mind declared that he owed Jaune a healthy drink.
"Ren!" Jaune's called out, snapping Ren out of the moment. Jaune was pointing at the Deathstalker's tail. "The stinger!" Ren looked. The stinger seemed to be connected by only a few loose threads; it looked ready to be torn off with just the right move…
"Pyrrha?" Ren looked to the autumnal girl, who simply shot him an understanding smile. She moved without a word, closing the distance as the Deathstalker took several uneasy steps back and desperately snapped at the charging girl.
Had the hunters always been this fast? They seemed to move like lightning, and there was barely time to respond. The Deathstalker couldn't get a bead on the redhead that weaved between its pincers like pesky branches. It tried to charge forward, to headbutt her as she closed in, but her foot connected between its eyes. How long had it been since it felt such simple pain? Her heel dug into its soft, damaged skull, sending needles and barbs all along its body, drawing out an agonized cry.
The Grimm felt something balancing on its tail, a pair of light feet. Its tail was already burning with crushing pain, but then blades, sharp, horrible blades around its stinger! The Grimm thrashed its tail backwards, but whatever stood on top held on. It threw its tail forward, to buck it off, but then the slicing pain got worse. With a spray of black mist, its stinger was sliced from its tail, and the momentum of being carried forward threw the yellow, sharpened bulb through its pulverized armor and into the back of its head.
Its eyesight gave out as the rudimentary nervous system that supported its body went haywire, whatever absurdity serving as its brain speared by the toxin-weeping barb. It couldn't see, its body wouldn't move. The ancient monstrosity had learned many emotions in its long life, the joy of the hunt, the satisfaction of the feast, the anger towards man, the selfishness of territory…
In a brief second, the old Deathstalker knew a new emotion: fear.
"Nora! Hammer that nail!" Jaune ordered hoarsely. The stocky girl threw a cocky thumbs-up to her savior and charged with a growing roar. Pyrrha crouched, shield held over her head, and Nora leapt on, Pyrrha shooting upwards like a spring to send the hammer maiden high.
With a graceful flip, Nora's hammer arced over her head, and as she fell, Magnhild came down on the severed stinger like the fist of an angry god. The ground trembled, the dirt fleeing the blow, the ruins around them shifting and moaning at the almost-nuclear disturbance, and the yellow bulb exploded like a squeezed grape as it was forced into the Deathstalker's skull.
A wet crunch had filled the air, like the sound of smashing a particularly large bug, and the Deathstalker slumped to the ground. Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha each moved back to surround Jaune, Ren offering his arm to help him to his feet so they could watch. Completely limp, and splayed out like a discarded toy, the broken scorpion twitched twice, and slowly began to sully the air, fading into a black mist.
Nora let out an excited, happy cheer, throwing herself onto Ren in a tight, relieved hug. Ren possessively crushed Nora into his chest as tightly as he could, one hand running through her short orange hair with a tender look. Her happy giggles faded as she melted against him, simply satisfied with being alive.
Pyrrha stood by Jaune's side, looking to the other two enviously. She quietly blushed, looking over at the blonde by her side as he held a knee and caught his breath. A hand settled on his shoulder, and he looked up at his partner. Pyrrha smiled gently, and felt a hint of red creep into her cheeks as Jaune rested his hand on hers.
Jaune's eyes widened as a thought occurred to him. He turned swiftly to face the three towers in time to see the canyon explode.
Thick, black talons scraped against the stone bridge just behind Ruby, before she threw herself, as quickly as she could, between the stone pillars holding up the central tower. The Nevermore gave an annoyed hiss as it wrapped around the tower, then took off to circle the structure as the other hunters were distracted by its kin.
Ruby pulled herself off the floor and watched the titanic raven circling the tower threateningly. Ruby sat in the middle, taking deep gulps of air to try and calm herself. Crocea Mors rested in her hands almost comfortingly, but Ruby still missed Crescent Rose.
She didn't know what to do. The Nevermore was still flying, despite having had a sword in its back. She didn't have Crescent Rose, and what could Jaune's sword do? No matter which way she ran, the Nevermore would get her. It took a few seconds for it to set in. She was trapped.
Jaune and Pyrrha were safe, at least, but they had to deal with the Deathstalker. She silently hoped they could untangle themselves quickly, but if her books were right, then they were in for a difficult fight.
Ruby turned her head to follow the slow flight of the Nevermore as it wheeled around the tower, its red eyes on her. She squeezed the sword's handle silently, stifling a pathetic whine. She would not give up now, she just had to think. How could she get out of here, get away from the Nevermore, or kill it?...
… The answer seemed simple, but a quiet, scared part of Ruby reminded her of what she had nearly done to Weiss. She had already used her powers on her first mission, something she had promised the headmaster she wouldn't do. Was she really so painfully weak that she would have to rely on the Grimm again? One couldn't call themselves a hunter if they were part of the problem, and she didn't want to scare anybody, or hurt them…
But if it was just herself here, and if she died…
Born from her own shadow, a pitch-black circle formed in front of her eyes. Quiet snarls filling her ears as a piercing, red eye peered out at her from the portal below. Her breathing slowed as her body suddenly itched, wanting out of this horrid situation...
Sudden loud crashing filled the air, and caused Ruby to instinctively duck and grab her head. A massive beak filled her vision, and the Nevermore snapped in agitation that Ruby remained just out of its reach. The Nevermore gave an almost amused chirp at the situation, then, with an enraged squawk, pushed its head through. The pillars cracked and bent around its bulk as the Nevermore forced its way in, ignoring collapsing ruin as Ruby screamed in terror, Crocea Mors held out in a weak defense.
Rubble tumbled down the Nevermore's back as the tower above was toppled, falling into the mists below. The gargantuan raven, hardly encumbered by the weight, arched its back and threw out its wings, throwing off mounds of stone. With a triumphant cry, one of its claws lashed out.
Ruby jammed Mors between the Nevermore's clawed toes, using it as a lever to push herself out of its grip as its talons closed in. With a clawful of old stone, the Nevermore smashed the rocks down onto Ruby, crushing her flat. It lifted its claw, jabbing the pile of stone with its beak to get the morsel underneath, but stared in confusion as the girl slid out from underneath and ran away as a fading black mist poured from the rubble.
Ruby ran as hard as her legs could take her, but her cloak suddenly caught around her neck and her feet flew out from underneath her. The Nevermore pulled her back, sending her onto her back just beneath it. Its beak struck, and Ruby scampered between its legs as the Nevermore left a solid hole in the stone. Ruby stood between the bird's legs and stabbed Mors up, right between the thighs, making the Nevermore screech in pain as Ruby cut open a new cloaca.
One of its talons raised, and Ruby took a step away, out of its effective range, but then the beak took its place as the Nevermore all but danced on one leg to snag its prey. Ruby gasped in pain as the Nevermore's sharp mouth closed around her ankle and pulled her out from underneath, tossing her into the air as it opened its jaws wide for her to fall right in, but then the girl's cloak rippled.
Confusion gripped the Nevermore as it watched thick black wings spring out from the girl's back, flapping twice to send her backwards, out of its reach. Unfortunately, the wings began to squirm, refusing to keep her airborne. She flailed as she fell, hitting the floor with a small cry. As she rolled onto her stomach, her wings flapped erratically, the pinions slicing at her hands as she tried to crawl away. With a frustrated cry, she bit into one wing as several arms reached out of her shadow and grasped her legs.
A black puddle appeared beneath her, and she seemed to be slipping in as limbs of the beast's kin grabbed at her, trying to pull her into the pool. The Nevermore cocked its head. This girl was kin, but wasn't kin? The kin were trying to devour her, and as she kicked, screamed, and slashed with her sword, she freed herself from them long enough to leap out of the puddle onto her knees. They pursued.
She backed herself against the remainders of a pillar, gasping in fright, barely able to keep her limbs from shaking as the Nevermore regarded her in confusion. From the black puddle, a malformed thing arose, the far-too-elongated head of an ursa trying to climb after the girl, enormous, black claws scraping the stone. The girl was screaming, throwing her full weight into the sword, cutting at the head of the pursuing Ursa.
The Nevermore watched, its primitive mind trying to puzzle this girl out. The girl slashed at skinny, black claws, and plunged the sword into the semi-formed Ursa's mouth to kill it. More claws grabbed at her feet, her legs, her cloak, pulling her to her knees. She reached for the stone around her as the pool of darkness widened to swallow her, and only by stabbing the stone with Crocea Mors could she hang on and pull herself out of the grasping shadows.
She leaned against the stone pillar, looking stunned as the pool shrank away, one final black arm leaving a score of scratches in the stone in one final, weak bid to grab their host. It, too, was swallowed by nothingness as the Nevermore slowly thought through the scenario.
She smelled like a human. She acted like a human. She screamed like a human. She felt like a human. She was prey. The Nevermore let out a satisfied scream at its conclusion and dove towards her with its beak open to swallow the little huntress whole. The girl waved the sword rapidly, trying to fend the Grimm off as shadowy claws dug into her boots and red eyes peered up at her from below, and the Nevermore felt satisfied it would finally catch its meal…
Until the world turned white. Fire appeared before it, with red eyes, burning gold hair, and a snarl worthy of an ursa. Something impacted between its eyes, sending the massive bird back a step, its whole head a pulsating ache as it flapped its wings to gain distance from whatever it was. Another huntress, another small girl, but this one not so weak! Her anger poured off of her in waves of searing flame, burning away the moss around her.
This newcomer was dangerous prey. The Nevermore let out an angered shriek and swept its wings forward, raining feathers on the two huntresses. The massive numbers of sharpened feathers closed in like falling spears, with the blonde pumping her arms and holding them over her face as she stood over Ruby. Then another light.
A large glyph, a shining, cold white appeared in front of the angry huntress, and a thick glacier suddenly grew in front of her, for the feathers to snap against harmlessly. The Nevermore turned its head and ducked, gliding underneath an enormous icicle flung at its head, and it slipped down into the mists below.
Ruby held Crocea Mors out instinctively, her face pale, her jaw unable to close from shock. In front of her, Yang puts her arms down, firmly keeping them at her sides as the glacier rapidly melted into a wide, clear puddle. Her glowing hair released a thick plume of steam as it turned to a normal gold. On her back, Crescent Rose was barely visible underneath Yang's golden hair. The older sister whirled around. Ruby flinched, dropping Jaune's sword. Small, happy whimpers escaped her as Yang's eyes went from furious to gentle, and before either of them knew it, they were clinging to each other for comfort.
Weiss sprinted forward, Myrtenaster bobbing in her grip, at the ready in case the Nevermore came back. She slowed to a stop, Blake appearing to her right with a small frown. "Is this really the time?" Weiss murmured to the other girl. Blake tightened her lips to stemmy her nervousness and shook her head.
"No, it's not, but are you going to get between them?" She asked dryly. Blake watched the two sisters untangle themselves from each other. Ruby's smile of relief was wide and bright; Blake could only imagine that her eyes were heavy with moisture under her eyewear. Yang was chuckling between anxious hiccups as she stroked Ruby's face and did everything in her power to not crush her little sister again.
Weiss stared. An hour ago she would have found the sight infuriating, another moment where Ruby Rose needed a hug and calm words, but after what she was shown today… she considered it an acceptable waste of time if it meant getting their heads on straight. "Ahem." Weiss stepped forward. Yang shot her a less-than-happy look at the intrusion, but Ruby took her hands off Yang's shoulders and awkwardly moved in front of Weiss. "Are you well?" Weiss asked, subconsciously pressing the back of her hand to Ruby's forehead.
Ruby gave her an embarrassed smile. In hindsight, Weiss realized, it was a stupid thing. Ruby would have been worried about crushed ribs and broken limbs, not a headache. Weiss removed her hand with a blush. "I-I'm okay. Thank you Weiss."
"... It's not a big deal. It's what we do." Weiss simply nodded. She bit her tongue and tried to not flail as she was suddenly embraced. She kept her arms out, away from Ruby as she wriggled and cringed in the girl's arms. "Not acceptable! Not acceptable!" Weiss babbled. When Ruby let her go and stepped back with a worried posture, Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned. "We're having a big talk about boundaries when this is all over."
"Um…" Ruby shuffled her feet. "Aren't you talking to the headmaster after this?..."
Weiss's face morphed into an exaggerated frown. "I said I was considering it."
"Right! S-sorry."
"And stop apologizing!"
"Sorry!"
"Ruby!" Weiss stomped her foot, looking ready to go off as her eyes widened and her face turned red. Ruby reared back, hands held up to protect herself from the enraged heiress, but Weiss caught herself. She stood up straight, coughed politely, and groaned in aggravation. "Anyways, I'm glad you're safe."
"Really?!"
"Yes, but don't read too much into it!" Weiss crossed her arms and looked away, her cheeks turning the same shade as Ruby's cloak as she tried to look as disinterested as possible. "It would look bad on my student record if my partner was killed before classes even started!"
"R-right." Ruby nodded, standing stiff and confused as she glanced to Yang. Yang and Blake were standing side-by-side, staring at the two shorter girls with their heads tilted in quiet fascination. Ruby made a face, and Yang shrugged.
'No clue,' Yang mouthed, eyebrows raised in amusement.
Each of the girls flinched and widened their stance as a sudden shudder ran up the tower. Ruby looked at Yang again, and the blonde gave her a confused look. Another rumble, this one much rougher, nearly sending Ruby to her hands and knees. The four girls dug their heels into the stone as it began to tilt, and a screech from below reached their ears.
"It's trying to bring the tower down!" Blake announced in panicked realization, Gambol Shroud in her hands immediately. Yang seemed frozen in thought, but after a few seconds, another shudder ran through the tower.
Ruby took a second to think, and immediately grabbed Weiss's arm. "We have to get to land now, everybody—" She was interrupted when the bridge to the cliffside exploded into a hundred rocky pieces, and in its place, the enormous Nevermore rose from the mists with a challenging cry.
Weiss, Blake, and Yang held their weapons at the ready, and Ruby looked to the spot she had dropped Crocea Mors. Missing. She quickly glanced to the edge, to which the shuddering tower had knocked the weapon precariously close. The Nevermore dove with a cry as Ruby lunged for Jaune's sword.
The massive raven crashed into the tower's side, using the damage it had done below to push the tower towards the opposite, taller cliff, from which escape to land would be nearly impossible. An icicle slashed its shoulder, and a missile-like projectile smashed into its head, but the Nevermore ignored it all as the four girls quickly found themselves losing their footing.
Yang gave a beastly roar and charged up the tilting floor towards the bird, Ember Celica firing repeatedly to give her the boost to rush the Nevermore. Weiss planted Myrtenaster into the stone for stability, but a hand grabbed her arm. She looked to Blake, whose lack of surety and confusion made her stomach drop, even as the black haired girl held her as tightly as possible. Weiss grit her teeth as she willed a white glyph to appear beneath them.
"Yang!" Ruby shouted, falling to one knee and plunging Crocea Mors into the stone. "My scythe! Yang!" She called after her sister. Yang planted a foot on the edge of the platform just before it collided with the wall and launched herself. The Nevermore let the huntress fly towards it, arm cocked back to hammer its beak, but the bird was a little more clever. "YANG!" Ruby screamed as the Nevermore jerked its head to the side and chomped down on her sister's legs, making Yang cry out. The bird flapped its wings and shook its head as Yang flailed, and Ruby gasped as she felt something wrap around her mid-section.
Blake's ribbon was curled around her tightly, with Gambol Shroud sticking to her aura, and Ruby grit her teeth. She stared up at Yang as the blonde tried to bury her fist into the Nevermore's eye as she the bird violently thrashed its head to stun her. The massive tower collided with the side of the canyon and shattered.
There was no time to talk, only move. Weiss crouched, Blake doing the same by her side, and the glyph dispensed itself in a burst of force, sending the two girls rocketing through the air past Ruby and over the edge of the tower. Blake grabbed the slack of Shroud's ribbon, and as soon as it went tight she pulled as hard she could.
A scream of surprise came from behind her as she threw Ruby past her and Weiss, the red-cloaked girl flying the bird with Mors in hand. Blake held fast to Weiss's arm, in the moment forgetting who the girl by her side was, and the two landed on a flying chunk of rubble, another white glyph propelling the two farther forward.
"Let! Go! You! Big! Birdy BASTAR—uby?" Yang stared as her sister tackled the surprised Nevermore's face, clinging to it tightly as the bird squawked in distress, Yang falling from its grip with a surprised yelp. She threw her arms behind her back and fired twice, her explosive choice of dust slowing her descent, then shooting her back up at the Grimm.
Her fist impacted its chest, making it screech and buck wildly, taking off as Ruby clung to its head, Yang to its foot.
Blake and Weiss landed on another white glyph, the latter panting heavily as she stared at her Dust canister. "Okay, I cannot make another one of these." She glanced to Blake. Blake was carefully watching the action, ignoring their sudden suspension over the misty abyss.
"Those two are seriously stupid." She mumbled, a small smirk crossing her face as she considered their options.
"Absolutely awful. We have to help them." Weiss acknowledged flatly. Blake bobbed her head.
"How's your gravity dust?"
Weiss spun her revolver and narrowed her eyes. "Nearly full, though I wouldn't rely on it. My control isn't the best. Yet."
"Can you make us really heavy and then really light?" Blake cocked an eyebrow as she spun Shroud's katana by her side like poi. "In that order?"
"... Easily." Weiss gave Blake a suspicious look. Blake gave her a daring one. Weiss gave a tiny sigh. She threw her arm around Blake's neck and held on tight as the white glyph began to turn pitch black.
Gambol flew across the empty air and punched straight into one of the remaining bridges, Blake's aura giving it the strength to hold strong as the two girls suddenly plunged with an extra five-hundred pounds of weight. Weiss was growling quietly in exertion as she fought to keep control of her spell, keeping her eyes wide for the moment they'd release. The bridge above them shuddered as they looped underneath, Gambol retracting in time for them to shoot up into the air gracefully, flying towards the clouds with enough momentum for Blake's vision to start tunneling involuntarily, but it mercifully slowed down as air friction and normal gravity caught up to them.
Blake had a dozen odd feelings about this moment, as Weiss held her as close as she possibly could, as Blake slipped an arm around Weiss's waist to secure her, as the two of them hurtled through the sky like an improvised missile from a trebuchet, as Weiss waved Myrtenaster like a wand and they fell through another gray circle… and as they slowly floated downwards…
On the Nevermore, Ruby held Mors in a reverse grip and plunged the blade straight into the massive bird's eye. A hideous scream erupted from its throat as it began to spin, enormous wings spread out and its head bucking back and forth. Ruby held on with a cry of fear as Yang, down below, couldn't stop herself from letting out an excited cheer.
The Nevermore slowed its spin and slammed its back into the rightmost tower, nearly throwing off Ruby. If she hadn't held onto Mors' handle, she would be falling into the abyss. The blade sliced further along the bird's eye, catching on the edge of the socket and making it wail, kick, and nearly lose control of its wings as it began to fall.
Yang lept from the bird's legs and hit the tower wall as hard as she could feet-first, then buckled, aimed Celica, and jumped as her gauntlets punched new holes into the stone as she launched up the Nevermore's back. The bird squawked in distress as Yang's arm looped around its neck and grabbed Ruby by her cloak with the other, then pulled, throwing her sister onto the tower behind them. She punched the Nevermore's back, firing an explosive slug into its black hide, simultaneously launching herself back onto the tower.
"Ow…" Yang glanced to her feet, squeaked, and quickly got off Ruby's back. "Yang?..."
"You alright Ruby?" Yang knelt down and lifted her sister up, helping her get to her feet as the young girl swayed in place and rubbed her head. She gave her little sister as big of a smile as she could when she looked.
"Flying sucks super hard." Ruby griped. Yang just let out a soft chuckle and ruffled Ruby's hair.
"Sure does."
"Crescent Rose." Ruby grunted, holding a hand out. Yang stopped, smiled in apology, and whipped the compacted scythe off of her back. Ruby took her beloved weapon and twirled it, releasing all the catches at once, the spinning rifle unfolding into its enormous scythe form, still wheeling through the air. Ruby's bemused expression turned pleased, and a pair of soft thuds caught their attention.
Weiss and Blake stood up, untangling from each other to give the sisters appraising looks. "We still have a long way to go." Weiss reminded them as she strode forward on shaking legs, her sword's dust cylinder spinning. Most of the bright colors of dust were missing, with only a small amount of gray, half a red, and a full container of icy-white left. "We either need to kill that thing or escape, then get our relics, then return to the cliffs to the south."
"Sounds easy enough." Blake noted, clearly not thrilled with the prospect, but she maintained a relaxed tone as she watched the Nevermore land on a tower far opposite them, waving its wing-claw against its eye, at the sword embedded in it.
"No." Ruby stated bluntly. All three of the older girls turned towards her, silently asking for an answer as she walked to the edge of the tower and stared at the Nevermore. "That's Jaune's sword. I'm getting in back for him, then killing the bird, then getting the relic." She looked to her team with a serious expression.
"He can't get a new sword?" Weiss raised an eyebrow. There was an uncomfortable shuffle from the other three. Asking a hunter to give up on their weapon was like begging them to leave behind a hand. In many cases, it could be done, and be replaced, but not without serious morale issues. "... Fine. But if we die—"
"We won't die." Ruby stated, slamming Crescent Rose's pole into the rock with a firm glare at her target. Her prey.
"What makes you so sure?" Blake ventured, moving up to stand by her side. Yang took Ruby's other side, hands planted on her hips, a daredevil's smile on her face.
"'Cuz there is no way I came all this way, spent all my life dreaming about this, only to die right here and right now." Ruby pointed to the enormous raven as it turned its head to glare at the four girls it was struggling to kill. "We are hunters. We're not their prey, they are ours." The sharp tap of Crescent Rose hitting the stone filled the air again. "They won't ever stop, so we can't either. We have everything to lose, so we have to protect it with our lives. Weiss, Blake, Yang, we're killing that bird, getting Jaune his sword back, and passing this initiation. Is that clear?" Her question was rhetorical, and her tone brooked no argument. However…
"No." Weiss answered, walking up by Yang's side. "But I'm willing to try. This'll look amazing on our student records."
"... No sense in running away from our careers." Blake mumbled, but her yellow eyes were stuck on the Nevermore as it raised its wings and screamed at them in fury.
A large hand rest on Ruby's back, and the girl looked up to her sister's overly pleased smile curiously. "Ruby, I'm real proud of you." Yang threw her little sister a thumb's up, making the younger girl turn bright red and return the smile. "So… what's the plan?"
"Well…" Ruby looked to Weiss. All four girls whispered to each other and listened as the Nevermore flapped its enormous wings and took off from its perch. It closed the gap as the four of them reached a consensus and turned to face down their opponent. The Nevermore glared at them with its one remaining eye, the pain muddying its decision-making as it flew to end this hunt.
It turned and twisted, curling its wings around itself as it narrowly avoided a volley of bullets and icy spears, ducking low enough to hide itself beneath the high ground and circle around the tower from below. It emerged with a defiant caw, casting a storm of razor-sharp feathers onto the tower roof as its prey scrambled to dodge. The yellow one deflected the feathers with quick jabs of her fists, the white one gracefully danced around them, the red one twirled and spun away while taking shots between each spin, making the Nevermore duck out of the way…
… There had been four. Where did the black one go?
A boot smashed its beak, making the Nevermore falter in surprise as the black-haired huntress swung around the tower on a long black ribbon. She turned, pulling her gun's trigger, dozens of stinging bullets making the massive Grimm crow in annoyance as it swiftly wheeled around the other direction, beak open to intercept the girl.
She had disappeared again, her ribbon nowhere in sight. No, she had played this trick once already, the Nevermore glanced up, then down, and raised its claws as the small huntress twirled between its talons and used her blades to quickly scale up its legs; thin, barbed bolts of pain shooting through the Nevermore as she crawled along it. With a frustrated huff, the bird flew upwards, dragging its side against the stone, and screeched as it suddenly lost control of its wing.
A huge sheet of ice covered the tower's side and the bird's wing, pinning the Nevermore in place. It screamed its rage as the three girls above unloaded sniper rounds, missiles, and icicles into its face as the girl on the Nevermore's back dug sharpened blades into a groove where its wing connected to its body. It twisted its head to peck and bite as she sprinted up its shoulder, and the fire from above stopped as she held onto the back of its head.
The sword in the Nevermore's now missing eye shifted, and the bird screamed, beating its wings against the stone as the girl riding its shoulder jostled and pulled the deeply embedded blade. She grunted, her voice straining as she got it to free an inch, and then was swiftly smashed into the stone wall. Her black aura flashed in an instant, her body a little numb and her eyes dazed as pain ran through her. She jumped back, slamming her sheath deep into the bird's back as it thrashed against the tower harder. Ice fell on its face, sharp enough to dig deep into its flesh, as a new volley of sniper rounds and missiles rained down on its head, sending biting, searing pain across its body.
It bucked, throwing its head back and slamming itself into the tower. The ice around its wing began to crack, flaking away under the midday sun and the constant squirming. Another searing bolt of pain went through its back and it twisted its head painfully, nearly like an owl's as it grabbed the surprised huntress on its back in its strong beak.
Her shout of pain was music to its ears as it tore its wing from the ice, flapping wildly to stay aloft, and it bit down hard enough to hear the small girl scream. Its satisfaction was short lived, as what felt like a sledgehammer crashed down onto its skull, a deep girl's voice roaring into its ear as repeated hammer-like blows bashed on its head until the girl in its beak slipped.
"Blake!" Ruby cried from above. Weiss waved Myrtenaster, a glyph just starting to form as the black-haired girl fell, but Gambol Shroud flung up, embedding itself in the stone. Weiss retracted her spell as Blake swung into the tower's column, resting for a moment and hanging precariously over the mists below. Ruby watched her burning sister scream and throw punch after punch, making the Nevermore shake, squawk, and fly off lamely as it tried to shake the blonde off, finally succeeding after biting her ankle and whipping its head. Weiss made a move to pull her sword, but as the flailing blonde fell, Blake launched herself off the tower, grabbing her partner mid-air and swinging around the stone.
Ruby panted in silent relief as the Nevermore flew in a slow, unsteady circle around the tower, one of its wings moving with careful precision so as not to agitate its wounds, its face and beak full of cracks and soft spots. She watched it, knowing at any moment it could catch one of them off guard. Weiss, by her side, frowned. "It's way tougher than it looks."
"So we need to hit it even harder." Ruby murmured. Crescent Rose twirled once in her hand thoughtfully, and she worked her jaw. Its neck didn't look heavily armored, and it was flying much more slowly with the damage Blake had done to its wing. An idea sprang to mind… a very bad idea. "Weiss…" She whispered, looking to her partner with a tense face.
"I don't like that expression, Ruby." Weiss narrowed her eyes.
"Well, I thought of something. I'll need you to trust me." Ruby said warily.
"If I die-"
"I'm going in."
Weiss was silent for a moment, then bobbed her head. "Lemme hear it."
"Hungry you bird-brain?! You want some more?!" Yang screamed, before being swept away in Blake's arms, feathers peppering the tower behind them. They swung up the tower's side and Blake ran along the wall as Yang threw punches behind her, the force of Celica's fire giving Blake the extra boost she needed to maintain her run.
"Yang." Blake grunted, holding the blonde in a one-armed bridal carry as the heavier girl continually shouted threats and challenges to the circling Nevermore. "Have I mentioned I'm not all that strong?" Blake wheezed the tiniest bit.
"Just keep me steady and- OH COME ON! SCARED OF ME YOU FEATHERED BITCH?!" Yang roared, making Blake wince as they crossed underneath the bridge. They wheeled around it, and Blake landed on her feet on the bridge. She dropped Yang without warning, earning a surprised yelp and an angry curse.
Blake turned her head to watch the Nevermore twist and turn as it flew up, dodging sniper rounds from Ruby and throwing feathers at the edge of the tower to give itself some cover. It flew up, its beak nearly spearing Ruby through the head as the girl fell back; Weiss glancing up in surprise at their foe.
The Nevermore let out a frustrated shriek, its whole body one, large ache by this point. In its mind, the simplest solution seemed best: get out. But, an ancient anger, held towards mankind and their works, gave it one final priority.
"Ruby! Now!" Weiss shouted. A blazing red glyph spun around Ruby as the girl held still. The Nevermore dove, and Crescent Rose swung towards the beast's belly as her whole body burst into flames, the furious shroud encircling her harmlessly as Crescent Rose left a wake of fire behind it.
It never connected.
Ruby's eyes widened in surprise as the Nevermore twisted, a single moment of brilliant clarity allowing it to avoid the decisive strike, and a shriek let it know it had succeeded. Its claw ripped Weiss from the rooftop, crushing her with all its might as she wailed in pain. Ruby shouted in horror as the Nevermore made its way to the upper cliff, ignoring the activity behind it.
It would accept a small victory.
Ruby stared, her body burning, her mind swamped in a combination of fury and terror. Weiss screamed and tried to jab Myrtenaster into the bird's foot, but to no avail. She was weakening, going limp as the Nevermore tried to crush her to death. After all this work, Weiss would die if she didn't do anything.
Ruby felt her eyes grow wet. Like hell she'd let that happen. Even after a full morning of fighting for her life, even after narrow escapes, crushing defeats, and brief respite, she wouldn't bend, bow, and let the worst come to pass. She would hate herself, she would hate this bird.
Everything in the back of her mind screamed. A joyous rage filled her as she ran towards the edge of the tower. The roaring and snarling in the back of her mind echoed in agreement at her sentiment of vengeance and demand for death. Her legs felt so light as she bent her knees and threw every ounce of power into her feet.
Thick cracks and the sound of shattering stone filled the air as Ruby jumped, throwing herself as hard as possible, the fire around her forming a blazing trail as she rocketed towards the Nevermore.
The bird squealed as Crescent Rose bit into its back, and Ruby threw herself over the raven, ripping her scythe out from between its wings, the blade looping through the air to build burning momentum. Rose slammed down onto the bird's neck, and Ruby threw all of her weight towards the canyon below.
Pain shot through the Nevermore as a razor-sharp, burning fire ran from its neck, to its skull, and down its spine. Its body went limp from the attack, but the vague semblance of life Grimm had still prevailed; weak flaps of its wings stirring the air around it. The humans were not heavy, it just needed time…
"Blake!" Yang shouted, grabbing Shroud's katana out of her hand. Blake stared up in shock as the bird began to fall, and flinched as Shroud's sheath threatened to pull out of her hands. She gripped tightly as Yang ran to the edge of the bridge and threw a thumb's up. Blake didn't know what to expect, but with one hand, Yang held the katana and jumped off the bridge, away from the Nevermore. She fired twice, sending her far over the edge until Shroud's slack ended, then the she began to fall, shooting behind herself the whole way to gain momentum.
Blake dug her heels into the stone, gritting her teeth, feeling the rock beneath her feet crack as she did everything she could to not get dragged to the edge. Yang wheeled under the bridge, the bark of Celica filling the air as built momentum and Shroud started sending her up.
Yang let go of Shroud at the height of her swing and flew upwards, her blonde hair burning a fiery gold, arm cocked back, her fist plunging straight into the Nevermore's gut as Ruby pulled down on its neck.
The Schnee family's signature fire shroud tickled at Yang's blazing aura, and as fire is wont to do, it devoured itself, grew bold, their shared energy mixing explosively. The two sisters shared a cocky smile, and the spark of power between them grew as the bird wheezed its last breath.
The sky turned red as Yang's semblance and Ruby's shroud ignited. Blake nearly fell off her feet as the largest explosion she'd ever witnessed filled the air, the conflagrant cloud detonating further as it grew and devoured the oxygen around it. The sound of the multiple eruptions caused Blake's ears fall flat in terror and pain as the stone around her shuddered, shook, and rapidly began to collapse.
Pieces of dissipating Nevermore flew through the air, disappearing into thin black whisps. Ember Celica's now familiar roar was heard as Yang launched herself out of the blast, Ruby over one shoulder. Blake stared at the violent fire before her eyes, and saw a trail of smoke heading for the pits below. With a growl, she forced herself to move, leaping off the cliffside.
"... Uh…" Was all Jaune had to contribute to the matter. Sitting in front of him was the decapitated head of what was once a very large Nevermore, his sword jutting out of its empty eye-socket as the head began to turn black and fade away.
Yang fell to the ground in front of the four hunters with Ruby in her grip, the two of them wrapped in a blazing flame as she took three steps and fell to her knees, the action dismissing the flame instantly. They were both smoking, Yang's eyes still burned red as an enormous smile split her face. Ruby, over her shoulder, gave the smallest, unhappiest squeak as she coughed up feathers.
"Are… are you okay?" Pyrrha spoke up, seemingly afraid to approach the sisters. Yang looked to Pyrrha, her face full of confidence and joy, and hefted Ruby onto the ground in front of her. Ruby landed on her butt. She and Yang were both covered in Grimm ash, their hair, faces, and clothing sporting a thin layer of gray. They took one look at each other… and laughed. Ruby fell onto her back and Yang held her face, and Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren looked to each other, then back to the two of them, like they were insane.
Before they could raise their voices, Weiss was tossed over the cliff, groaning in pain, her normally pristine, pale skin and white clothing matching Ruby and Yang. Blake vaulted over the cliffside onto her feet, her legs shaking. She looked from Ruby, to Yang, to the other four hunters. Wordlessly, she sheathed Gambol Shroud and tossed her weapon to the ground, and collapsed face-first onto the grass with a pathetic whine.
"That was your plan B?!" Nora asked incredulously, her expression a mixture of awe and wonder, "I like plan B! I saw plan B through my eyelids!" Nora was a giddy ball of energy as the eight teenagers walked, limped, or were dragged south. "Jaune!" The girl barked, making the blonde boy flinch and look back, leaning heavily against Pyrrha. "Next time, less falling on your butt while I do the heavy lifting, more explosions!"
"I'll keep that in mind." He stated dryly, Pyrrha giggling by his side. Behind them, Ren walked firmly, sipping from a thermos that smelled like a mixture of a vegetable garden and a compost heap.
"I would really like that we never do anything like plan B again." Weiss grouched from Yang's back. The blonde was chipper as ever, hardly minding the extra weight as Weiss piggybacked on her with a groan, the full day of exertion, falling, getting chewed on, and finally crushed having caught up to her in a bad way.
Blake was bleary-eyed and tired, preferring the solid ground to the branches above for the moment. She'd done her fair share of high-flying today, and even without danger present, she wanted to enjoy solid, firm, non-shaking, non-collapsing ground.
Ruby and Nora walked side-by-side ahead of the group. Ruby… was full of energy. She wasn't hopping in place like Nora, but despite the day's events, she felt strong enough for another round… not that she wanted another round—quite the opposite, in fact—but she was pleased with her current accomplishment and felt ready for a big lunch and a long, hot bath.
"Well, I'll try to make it a last resort in the future, but it did work." Ruby pointed out.
"At what cost?" Weiss whimpered, examining her stained clothing. Ruby hid a laugh as they crested a hill. Before them was the ruins containing the relics, and relief flooded her. She wasn't about to fail just yet! She sped forward, Nora close behind her. She jumped up onto the raised platform, and examined the remaining relics.
Her face fell, spotting just one. "Um…" Behind her, Pyrrha helped Jaune up, and the rest of the hunters joined her on top. "Jaune, Pyrrha, did you two happen to get a relic?" She asked. Sitting on one of the short stone platforms was a black rook piece, and Pyrrha and Jaune both shook their heads.
"No, we took the long route to those ruins." Jaune answered, pulling his arm from Pyrrha's shoulders to walk forward. He grabbed the remaining relic with a small frown, idly tossing it up and down.
"Hey! Don't take it, we need to decide who's passing!" Weiss said in a flustered squirm, prompting Yang to dig her elbows into her passenger's hips in warning.
"This doesn't seem right." Blake's squinted at the floor in a small scowl as she examined their surroundings, trying to see if one fell. "Why would they only have enough for all the teams but one?"
"Well, see—" Yang started, but Ruby interrupted.
"Jaune and Pyrrha should get it."
"What?!" Weiss squirmed again. Yang rolled her eyes and dropped Weiss onto her butt to reach into her hip pouch. "After all the work we did?! Why shouldn't we get it?!"
"Why shouldn't we get it?" Pyrrha parroted, fixing Weiss with an unamused look that made the heiress feel very small. She reached out to Jaune and took the relic. She stared at the object thoughtfully… and snapped it in half. A low gasp rang out from the surrounding hunters as Pyrrha set the base of the black rook piece in Jaune's hand, then put the head in Ruby's. "Either we both pass or we both fail, fair is fair and I will not settle for petty squabbling."
Ruby looked down to the piece in her hand with a tight smile, and didn't resist when Weiss picked up the broken relic piece in one hand. With a low sigh, the white-haired girl held it close to her heart. "Oh I hope it's enough." Her whisper carried a grieved tone, and Ruby quietly wondered what she had to be so dramatic over.
"Hey, uh, Pyrrha?" Yang waved her hand. The rest of the hunters looked to Yang as she pulled her hand out of her hip pouch, and very nervously presented two relics, one gold knight, one black knight. A slow, steady cloud of apprehension settled as everyone took the sight in…
"Oh." Pyrrha frowned, looking to the piece Jaune was holding. "Well, I suppose a little glue will be needed."
"Whoa, whoa, one sec." Jaune raised an eyebrow at Yang, giving her a questioning look. "You took two? Why?"
"Err…" Yang scratched the back of her head as Blake gave her a curious look, Weiss turning to glare at her as she strutted over and picked the gold piece out of her hand and tossed it to Ruby. "See, I was… I mean," Yang ran her fingers through her golden hair as everyone else stared. "I was kinda worried because Ruby was taking so long, and, well, I thought, if they're gonna make four person teams, it's probably going to be matching pieces, right?" She held up the black knight as Weiss examined the gold one. "So, I thought…"
"You didn't think I'd make it." Ruby muttered bitterly.
"What?!" Yang flinched at the accusation, "Don't be stupid, of course I thought you'd make it!" She huffed indignantly, crossed her over her bust in a rare moment of shyness. "I just… I did some thinking, and if we weren't partners, I at least want us to be on the same team."
Ruby looked up at her sister. Yang's lilac eyes were soft and pleading, hoping for an understanding, and though there was still a hint of frustration and annoyance, Ruby readily dismissed it. She gave her sister a small smile. "Well, okay then."
"No, not 'okay then'! That's cheating, isn't it?" Weiss demanded with a scowl, holding the black rook's head out to Jaune. The boy took it and nervously clinked the two pieces together. "Don't you have any shame?"
"In keeping my sister close? Hell no." Yang walked forward. No sway in her hips, shoulders firmly set, an unhappy tightness around her eyes. Weiss took a step back and felt the blonde's finger dig into her chest. "If you're going to be her partner, then I'm at least going to be on her team."
"Wh- what are you accusing me of?!" Weiss demanded.
"You may have been a pretty alright hunter out here in the forest, but I still don't like your attitude. Ruby needs somebody she can trust, who she knows; you don't know what she's gone through to get here and you-" A hand squeezed her shoulder, and Yang paused.
Ruby shot her a very awkward smile as she stepped around her sister and stood by Weiss's side. Weiss tensed as Ruby took her hand, giving it a squeeze, but she stopped herself from pulling away. "It's okay Yang. Weiss and I are partners now, we've come to an…" Ruby glanced to Weiss thoughtfully, "an understanding. I-..." Ruby gulped loudly. "I think I'll be okay."
"Are you sure?" Yang frowned, examining her sister carefully. "I mean, I don't want to be on your team just for you, we'd work well together either way and I wouldn't mind having you sorta close, I mean I guess either way we'd be within walking distance of each other but… I'd just worry."
"I want to be on a team with you." Ruby bobbed her head. "But Weiss and I are partners, so we all kinda have to get along, right?"
There was a very long moment of thought, and Yang inclined her head in defeat. Weiss looked to Ruby with an uncertain expression. After all their infighting, Weiss wasn't sure about being on the same team as Yang, and still wasn't sure about being Ruby's partner, but for all her silliness, brattiness, childishness, and awkwardness, she was an earnest young lady with a reasonable set of skills. Weiss let out a sigh. Well, this was her life for the next four years.
"Okay then." Jaune spoke up. He walked over, setting a hand on Ruby's and Yang's shoulders. "Look, a lot happened today. We all made some weird decisions, fought some tough battles, and we came out on top. We have everything we need to pass the test, so, let's go. I could really go for something other than granola." Jaune put on a cheeky grin.
Yang's shoulders lifted, fell, and she let out a thick sigh. "Well, alright. C'mon everyone, we got a long walk." She turned and headed south. The rest of the hunters followed behind, enjoying a much more leisurely stroll under the midday sun.
The journey was uneventful. Eight hunters, packed together, heavily armed and ready to exterminate their way to the other end of the forest made even juvenile grimm hesitant. The only real danger was the heat, and canteens were passed around or, in the case of Ren's canteen, tossed at his head accompanied by the sounds of mild vomiting.
As they walked, Blake, recovered somewhat from her earlier exertion, trotted ahead to stand by Yang's side, looking up to the taller girl with a small frown. Yang glanced to her curiously. "Nobody asked my opinion." Blake muttered, gesturing to the pouch where Yang was keeping the black knight.
"Sorry Blake." Yang pouted, "Just sisterly business is all."
"I'm fine with Ruby. You will take some work." Blake gave her a very pointed stare, which, counter to what Blake was trying to accomplish, made Yang grin cheerily. "But I'm not comfortable being around the Schnee. I know what her family's done." Both girls glanced over their shoulders. Weiss was walking between Ruby and Pyrrha. Pyrrha was examining Crescent Rose with an impressed expression as Ruby ooh'd and aah'd over Miló and Akoúo̱. Weiss was trying to wipe the ash and soot off of her dress with little success, and, for all they could see, was being perfectly reasonable and non-hostile.
"She stuck her neck out for Ruby." Yang stated with a small roll of her shoulders.
"And that's good enough for you?" Blake hid a growl in her voice as she whispered. "Even after knowing they have years and years of selfish business practices? Of lying through their teeth? Of screwing over everyone and everything that doesn't instantly line their pockets?"
"She stuck her neck out for Ruby." Yang said again, looking to Blake with a curious raise of one golden eyebrow. "That doesn't scream 'embezzlement' to me. I get it, her family's done some bad crap, but, I dunno… she could be different. She's her own person, nobody is exactly like their parents."
"Are you sure?" Blake snorted.
"I haven't run out on my family to do who-knows-what, so I'm not my mother." Yang grunted bitterly. Blake slowed down a few steps as she stared at Yang, not sure whether that tidbit of personal information was purposefully or accidentally shared, but Yang didn't stop to answer the unasked questions, moving on without a look the other way.
With a small frown, Blake kept pace and stared at the forest floor, sighing.
She'd risked her own life and energy to save the Schnee heiress more than once today. Uncomfortable as she was, she may have no choice but to accept they might end up a team.
