Chapter 9: Setting the Board Part 3
Taylor
The nine of us moved swiftly through the forest in a straight line back to the cliffs. Ruby was scouting ahead with surprising speed and picking off some Grimm that would have been in our path, creating a safe trail for the rest of us to follow. I was finding that I had to focus on keeping up, as everyone else was moving with efficiency and ease, their regular traveling speed matching my sprinting speed.
Jaune seemed to be having the same troubles I had but in different ways. He would go in spurts of being a little faster than everyone to a little slower. I noticed that his running form wasn't changing though, like his Aura use was in flux rather than a steady stream. Was there a purpose behind that or was he just not used to using his Aura for running like this?
I apparently didn't have to worry about fighting any straggler Grimm that Ruby couldn't finish off in time, as Pyrrha efficiently carved away any we encountered while Yang seemed to live in the moments where she launched herself at a Grimm.
Everyone seemed to react faster than should be possible. Even with enhanced speed, I felt like there was a split-second difference between when the others moved and when I did. The only way I was keeping up was using my bugs to read the movements of the Grimm and acting accordingly. There must be something with Aura that I was still missing beyond just simple lack of experience with it. Something fundamental.
The entire time we heard the rumbling of the Deathstalker tearing through the forest after us, having freed itself from the glacier that trapped it. Additionally, we heard the Nevermore's cries in the distance as my bugs told me it was following us in a curving path. I knew that it could have caught up to us but hadn't for whatever reason.
"It's gonna follow us all the way back at this rate. If the Nevermore circles in front of us then it means we'll get flanked by them," I yelled out after another cry from the bird Grimm rattled the surrounded trees.
We all slowed down to a jog to talk.
"You sure? It sounds pretty far off," Jaune said, more hopeful than actually arguing.
"I thought the plan was to not fight them," Weiss said.
"I don't think we'll have a choice," I responded.
"If the Deathstalker is willing to chase us this far…" Ren answered.
"Then the Nevermore might too," Pyrrha finished.
"What's the plan?" Yang asked no one in particular, though afterward, she glanced at Ruby expectantly.
However, it was Jaune who spoke up. "We should set a trap for the Deathstalker then, use the trees to provide cover from the Nevermore?" His confidence ended halfway through as we all turned to stare at him.
"Good idea. There's a section of the forest up ahead that has a clearing that's still covered by the surrounding branches. The Deathstalker won't be able to clear the forest for the Nevermore to attack us there," Ruby followed up.
"Then Yang and Pyrrha should hit it from the front while the rest of us flank its sides," Jaune continued, giving credit to the two whom I guessed were the best front liners of the party.
It seems the two had some idea of tactics. It was a decent plan too. Similar to the one I had come up with. But not enough.
"We still run into the same problem that we had before, just without the Nevermore. We don't have any way to hurt the Deathstalker. Its armor is too thick to get through while its pincers and tail block any vulnerable part of it," I cut in.
Everyone nodded solemnly in agreement, seeing the problem but not offering a solution.
"Well, I'm sure we'll figure something out once it's here," Yang said with an easygoing smile. One that spoke of foolhardiness and lack of planning.
I ignored Yang's comment and kept going. "We need a way to trap its limbs or to get through its armor. Can we trap it with more ice Dust like before?" I glanced about the group as I wasn't sure who had created the glacier from before.
"I could do it again, but it would be the last of my ice Dust," Weiss claimed.
"Hopefully, this is the last time you'll need it today," I said. "I also think that anyone who doesn't really need their Dust rounds should place them in a pile so that we can set them off like a landmine."
"Wouldn't that send Dust rounds firing everywhere?" Blake inquired.
"Not if we wet them off right when the Deathstalker is over them. It should be more than big enough to block any exploding rounds," I answered, getting an agreeing nod in response.
"Nora, do you think that you could bring down some trees on it if we slowed it down?" Jaune asked.
Bringing a tree down on it? That would be good. I was still unfamiliar with the level of abilities that everyone here could perform; taking down one of these giant trees fast enough wasn't something that I had guessed would be a viable option.
"Just yell timber." Nora saluted, flashing a grin that was hungry for action.
"Then Nora should be in a tree to not draw its attention. Yang and Pyrrha can wait on the opposite side of the clearing for it and make it come at them. Split the groups into Weiss, Ren, and Jaune on one side with the rest on the other?" I summarized.
"May I ask, why that specific set up?" Ren asked politely.
"Splitting our forces evenly. Weiss and Ruby are the best long-range fighters out of the flanking parties. Ren and Blake are both quick attackers. Jaune and I round out the two. Also, Jaune can use his shield to block any fragments from the explosion for his side while Ruby's and Blake's abilities make them fast enough to get out of the way of any."
"What about you?" Pyrrha commented.
"I'll be fine."
"How were you able to figure out our fighting styles so quickly?" Weiss asked with a small undertone of accusation. The others watching my response, mostly with curiosity, unlike Weiss.
Because I felt how you guys fought with bugs for the entire first part of the initiation.
"I've been paying attention," was all I said, dropping the rest of my lightning Dust rounds in the middle of the clearing, except enough for one last clip.
"Well, I think it's a good plan. Come on everyone, let's kill this thing together!" Ruby declared, pumping her fist into the air.
Everyone seemed to put on an air of determination from Ruby's encouragement. The girl was certainly infectious with her optimism.
Ren, Ruby, and Pyrrha all unloaded a small pile of Dust ammo and cartridges on top of mine, with the rest keeping theirs because they used them more frequently with their fighting styles and didn't have regular ammo to substitute. Jaune didn't have any Dust whatsoever.
And with that, we got into position and awaited our prey.
As the Deathstalker drew closer I noticed two different pairs of students following the path it was making. The pairs didn't seem to be working together, as they were too far away from each other to be. I wasn't quite sure if they even knew the other pair had the same idea of using the cleared path the scorpion Grimm was carving through the forest as an easy path back to the cliffs.
I wonder if they'll help us or just go around when we start battling the Deathstalker.
Pyrrha shifted her weapon into its rifle form as she stood beside an eager looking Yang. I had a bug land and snuggle into the pile of ammo in the middle of the clearing, something to mark my shot for when we fired at the pile. Nora had skipped towards a set of trees before her grenade launcher somehow extended into a giant hammer, where she then proceeded to do a few practice swings at its base before jumping straight up onto a branch. Ruby had her scythe out; her ability to wield such a large awkward weapon with the skill she had during the test still bewildered me.
I couldn't decide if everyone's weapons were cool or absurd.
We all fell into a tense silence as the sounds of snapping trees and skittering limbs stabbing into the ground reached its apex as the pincers of the Deathstalker came to rest between two trees blocking its path before they were easily ripped from their roots and thrown aside.
Bullets rattled off the Grimm's bone hide as Yang and Pyrrha began their barrage. The Deathstalker didn't even register the minor hindrance of their attack as it rushed them, clacking its claws in deadly promise.
As soon as it was about to charge over our improvised bomb I yelled out, "Fire!"
Everyone here seemed to be an accomplished marksman, as I didn't notice even one bullet miss its target. The Dust ignited immediately, causing an explosion of sparks and fire to burst out under the Deathstalker as charged towards Yang and Pyrrha.
The scorpion Grimm halted its onset as it hissed in pain before it seemed to simply shake away the injury. More smog was coming from its underbelly but beyond that, the monster seemed unaffected.
Hopefully, it was more hurt than it appeared.
The snapping bark and wood resounded from behind the Grimm as a large tree began to slowly fall down, the trunk shifting enough to reveal Nora standing triumphantly as she watched her work.
Just as the tree was about to intercept, the massive creature jumped back with unnatural ease. I watched through multiple angles as its claws shot forward and grabbed the tree out of the air. The giant tree was easily double the length of the Grimm, I couldn't see any signs of strain from lifting the massive weight.
Pyrrha and Yang were still firing away, but now the Grimm was using the tree as a makeshift shield.
The groups flanking the Deathstalker watched in disbelief as it held the massive tree with unnatural ease. Then slowly the armored pincers brought the tree up above it, almost like it was exaggerating the movement to show its intention.
It was going to throw the whole damn tree.
A piercing cry from the Nevermore reminded us all of why we had chosen this covered alcove, as the threat of the bird Grimm circled around us looking for any chance to attack.
If the Deathstalker threw the tree with enough force it might take down the trees hiding us from the Nevermore. No time to wait for it to move perfectly in the trap.
"Weiss, now!" I yelled as I began to fire as many rounds as I could into its flank, the others joining my assault with their own weapons.
Just as the Deathstalker extended its pincers forward to launch the tree, the ground in front of it erupted into a miniature glacier that covered the Grimm's claws and trapped it once again. The massive tree was now stuck in its grip above its head.
"Quick! Its arms!"
"The tree, now!" Both Ruby and Jaune seemed to shout in tandem.
A blur of black and green flashed across the forest floor as Blake and Ren rushed towards the Grimm. Blake took a rounded path to approach the pincers from the front while Ren took a more direct route under the shadow of the tree, leaving him in range of the Deathstalker.
The stinger of the Grimm bobbed and weaved before lashing out with lethal precision.
"Watch the stinger!" I called out but was too late.
I watched Ren turn his head just in time to see the golden tipped tail of the Deathstalker approaching his face, leaving him no time to dodge.
Luckily, my bugs had felt Nora spinning down from above the Grimm, having propelled herself with the recoil of her weapon as soon as Ren left the treeline.
The stinger came within inches of Ren's face before it was smashed to the ground, a sickening crunch emanating from the limb as it cratered into the dirt.
Ren made a noise that sounded like "Cerrraw," as he passed Nora before he and Blake made crossing slashes across the frozen limbs of the Grimm.
The ice and thin black limbs under the enormous pincers of the Deathstalker split and shattered from the coordinated blows. The pincers tumbled to the ground as the tree fell with a satisfying crash onto the back of the Grimm.
Its pincers were gone, its stinger crushed, and its body was trapped under a massive tree. Yet still, the Deathstalker struggled to attack us.
All of us rushed the Grimm, attacking from all sides while Yang and Pyrrha jumped over the ice and tree to attack it from above.
We stabbed its side while dodging its flailing legs that seemed intent on trying to skewer us however they could. The tail flung around like a whip, the Grimm having abandoned any attempt to see if its stinger was still functioning. Jaune took it upon himself to block the flailing limb while Blake, Ruby, and I sped out of the way or anticipated the attacks to dodge. The tree shifted and rolled as the Grimm tried to unpin itself but finally, as everyone stood around slashing and striking it, the Deathstalker's legs gave out as the black smog around it began billowing out.
We stood around watching the monster fade into nothingness. I was tired and breathing heavily, Jaune fell backward into a seating position in exhaustion. Everyone else seemed to be slightly panting except for Pyrrha who didn't seem fatigued in the slightest from the battle.
"Thanks for the assist," Ren told Nora.
"Well of course! I heard the distress signal," Nora responded, yelling the first part and whispering the second like it was some exclusive secret before jumping on Ren with a hug.
"That… worked out surprisingly well," Jaune commented from his seat on the ground.
Yes, we beat it, but we also didn't have any method of hurting it or getting through its armor. We cut off all its dangerous limbs and trapped it under a tree and it still took us at least a few minutes of stabbing into its sides to do enough damage. We wasted a huge amount of Dust ammo to do what felt like no damage. We couldn't hit any 'vital' part of it, if Grimm biology even had any 'vital' parts.
I'd need to work out how to deliver a strong enough blow for times like these. Getting trapped fighting one of these for so long was bound to get us killed, either by us eventually getting worn down and injured or taking too long before other Grimm showed up.
Speaking of, why hadn't other Grimm come in response to the battle? It wasn't exactly quiet. All of the Grimm I felt with my bugs had headed off, ignoring the fight entirely.
"Yeah. Good work everyone," Ruby chipped in proudly.
"I was kinda hoping for more face punching though…" Yang complained.
"Didn't enjoy being the distraction?" Blake replied.
"I'm more of a frontline kinda gal. With an explosion happening behind me," Yang answered.
"The Dust trap could have worked better," Weiss huffed, shooting a glance at me.
"I don't think anyone was expecting it to shrug off that much Dust blowing up under it," Ren said.
"Well, I think it all worked out just fine," Pyrrha said happily, possibly an attempt to defuse the situation though I didn't think Weiss's comment was really enough to cause any friction.
"Speaking of, I don't hear the Nevermore anymore," Blake said.
She was right. The consistent cries had stopped and even the bugs at the edge of my range didn't spot the Grimm.
"Maybe it ran off?" Jaune suggested hopefully.
"Well, we did totally kick its buddy's butt," Yang responded with a confident grin, her hands resting on the back of her head.
"I guess we can head back without being chased by Grimm," Weiss surmised.
"Sounds like a plan, partner," Ruby agreed, appearing beside Weiss with a rush of rose petals. I did catch Weiss rolling her eyes at the young girl.
Why did the Nevermore head back? It didn't feel threatened enough by us to attack us in the first place, and that was before the Deathstalker showed up. Can they sense one another so it knew that it would have backup or did it grow bored? Can they get bored? It didn't lose us. If they can sense negative emotions I'm sure being chased by a giant evil scorpion gave it enough of a beacon to follow us.
We continued at a slower pace than before towards the cliffs. Taking our time to recover slightly from the last battle. Ruby still scouting ahead but staying closer to the group, not moving so far ahead to make a safer trip. We could take our time now.
We didn't encounter any more Grimm on the way surprisingly; my bugs did sense some but they weren't nearby or moving towards us.
Then, we found out why the Nevermore wasn't attacking as we once again heard its shrill cry echo through the forest, followed by the panicked shouts of other students in the distance.
It stopped targeting us because it found other targets.
Everyone shared a look of comprehension before we resumed our previous breakneck speed.
I fell behind slightly along with Jaune but my bugs gave me a picture of the scene way before we arrived.
I also found out why we hadn't encountered any more random roaming Grimm along our path; they had rushed towards the negativity of the students the Nevermore was now hunting.
Beowolves, Ursas, and Boarbatusks snarled and growled at the edge of a large seemingly bottomless cliff. They were all facing towards a stone circular temple made up of large walls and pillars in the middle of the ravine, where one pair of students were firing their weapons at the Nevermore that was preying on them. I recognized them as one of the pairs that had been following the path the Deathstalker had made. They had been the farther back pair and like the pair that had been ahead of them following the Deathstalker, they too had left us to our own battle. The first pair must have already made their way up the cliffs.
One was a blueish-gray haired boy in matching colored armor that was wielding some kind of halberd-rifle. The other boy had a very pale green mohawk with twin daggers that he was slashing through the air to create waves of wind and fire. Some kind of Dust weapons then, though the range on them was too short to hit the flying Nevermore at its current distance so I didn't know why he was bothering.
There were stone pillars jutting out from the foggy depths of the abyss around the temple structure the two boys were fighting on. They probably once held up bridges that had either decayed enough to crumble down or more likely the Nevermore had made sure the boys couldn't escape when they got to the temple.
A daring Beowolf leaped onto one of the pillars and then to the next in rapid succession in an attempt to reach the pair. It was met mid-air by a quick barrage by the pair of boys causing it to fall into the chasm below. The boys quickly turned their attention back to the Nevermore.
I also noticed that this was all happening right in front of the cliff we needed to climb to get back to Ozpin and complete the test. That meant we would have to go through the Grimm that were clawing at the air of the canyon edge as well as deal with the Nevermore to be able to climb the cliffs to victory.
The forest ended to reveal alcoves made of stone pillars that lined the path leading to where the various Grimm were. The grass seemed to take on a grayish dead hue that contrasted ominously with the vibrant green of the Emerald Forest behind us.
We felt the rush of wind as the Nevermore made another pass through the canyon, its large talons scraping against the stone of the isolated temple as the two boys dodged just in time to not be eviscerated.
My bugs marked the two boys. They were breathing heavily and obviously panicked. They had no escape and they weren't really equipped to handle an opponent at long-range.
I gathered a small cloud of bugs farther down the canyon, waiting for the Nevermore to come around again so that I could use them to follow its movements.
As we came into range of the random Grimm we lined up together. I watched through my bugs as everyone's weapons shifted in mechanical precision to their gun forms as we all aimed at the large group of Grimm.
"Everyone, together!" Ruby called out as we all fired.
Explosions of fire, pink bursts, and shrapnel blasted into the Grimm as they turned to face us. A cloud of dust covered them from our volley just enough that we could only see the shadows of Grimm charging towards us. They would reach us in seconds.
Marking all the Grimm I immediately had a sense of their every movement. Thus, the first thing I did was kick Jaune to the side and use the kick to jump off him and dodge the rolling boar Grimm that blurred past us. Its spinning charge ground up dirt and stone as it flew by us.
I felt Ren slide under the legs of an Ursa, jumping onto the shoulders of a Beowolf and firing down with his guns into its skull. Nora had been rushing up behind him and used the Ursa's attention on Ren to give a vicious golf swing between the creature's legs. I thought I felt the other Grimm cringe but I might have been mistaken.
Ruby and Weiss were working in surprising concert as Weiss would trap the Grimm's legs in ice or in wells of increased gravity as Ruby zipped around to the immobilized foes and make quick work of them with her giant scythe.
Yang and Blake were fighting more independently but back-to-back, taking on individual opponents but not worrying about those behind them. Yang smashed Grimm after Grimm while Blake moved with deft speed to each one, delivering a series of slashes before moving on.
I had underestimated Pyrrha. Yang was a strong brute of a fighter so having her be part of the distraction for the Deathstalker seemed logical. Pyrrha was a machine. Every movement was switching from one attack to the next, her weapon moving and shifting forms to perfectly meet the combat situation. Pyrrha didn't need a partner.
Now I could see the benefits of using such a complicated weapon. Someone could have whatever weapon best suited for the moment if they timed the transformation right and had a weapon designed with smart and various forms.
It must have taken three times the amount of training to learn to use each form of the weapon, along with the time it would take to get the exact timing down for switching between the forms, not to mention using the different forms in combination.
To say the least, I was amazed by Pyrrha's dedication to her fighting. Then again, what the fighting was used for was more important.
For the most part, I stayed around Jaune but moved to fire at any Grimm that was coming up behind any of the others or getting too close to them.
In the same way I was amazed by Pyrrha, I was disappointed by Jaune. His stance was off, his swings were wild and off-balanced, and even I knew that he was using his shield wrong. It was like he had barely been in any type of combat and had never taken the time to learn how to fight.
An Ursa came barreling towards me but I simply turned and fired three shots into one of its front legs. The lightning Dust had sparks dancing amongst the black smog coming from its body as the leg seized from paralytic shock. The Ursa careened to the left, right into Yang's range as her fists slammed down on the present I had given her.
I had used all of my ice Dust on the Deathstalker and only had the rest of my clip of lightning rounds for Dust left.
I focused on the battlefield and began to move more into the fray. Jaune was staying at the fringe of the fighting and I could do more assisting everyone than just him.
A Beowolf squatted to spring at Weiss - I fired two shots to the back to stop it. An incoming Boarbatusk came in a spinning charge - couldn't dodge without going into the range of another Grimm so I had to jump over it. Blake just teleported behind a Beowolf, she hasn't teleported back to her original position after she has teleported yet so I fired at the Beowolf as it spun to face her just as my jump reached its apex. Ren was fighting an Ursa, moving too rapidly around the Grimm for me to get a safe shot. Pyrrha didn't need help. Ruby was moving too fast around the battlefield to help. I sent bugs in the eye of the Beowolf Jaune was fighting, the blindness seemed to let Jaune get in the killing blow. The Nevermore went through the wave of bugs I had set up. Half of them died on impact but the rest began crawling through its feathers to completely track its body. I landed from my jump and the Boarbatusk turned around for another charge. I quickly holstered my gun. I matched the timing and pivoted out of its path, drawing my sword and stabbing into its side as it passed. Ren spun around only to get hit and sent flying by an approaching Grimm that took a blow from Nora for turning its attention away from her.
"Pyrrha, to Ren!" I yelled as I squeezed my Aura into my arm to not lose my blade as the Boarbatusk flailed in its death throes on my weapon.
Ruby slammed onto the shoulders of a Beowolf, her scythe wrapped around its neck. I did a leaping swing and gutted a Beowolf that had ignored its fellow Grimm and surged towards her. I heard her weapon fire, beheading the Beowolf as I rolled out of the way of another boar-Grimm.
Weiss had just finished off a small Ursa as I called out, "Weiss, the Boarbatusk that just passed me will charge me again." I felt the Grimm acting out my prediction as I said it.
I trusted her to stop its attack as I turned my back to it so that I could flank an Ursa with Blake. I felt several impacts of Dust projectiles explode into something behind me as I slashed at the Ursa's armpit just as it completed a large overhead swing straight down onto the space Blake had teleported away from. The bear-Grimm's claw clawed through the dirt with a low backhanded swing from the limb that had just cratered the ground, leaving it to spin its back towards where Blake had appeared. She took full advantage of the opening and I was already jumping out of the way of the approaching blow and heading to intercept a pair of Grimm that was heading towards Jaune. I let the smaller Grimm continue its advance as I slashed at its partner, already moving to dodge its retaliation.
The Nevermore flapped its wings as it passed the temple, sending feathers like spears pin-cushioning the granite of the temple. My bugs felt the wind of one hit just beside the head of the mohawk boy. The Nevermore screeched angrily as it once again failed to kill its prey.
The Grimm were almost all gone now. Four Beowolves, one Ursa, and two Boarbatusks left. Ren was temporarily sidelined as he was nursing his side from where the Ursa had struck. Pyrrha and Nora ended any threat that approached him. Jaune was getting hit more than he was hitting but they were light blows and his Aura seemed to still be holding strong. He must have a lot of it. Everyone had been hit a couple times, except for Pyrrha and me. Though, Pyrrha hasn't been hit through sheer skill. I hadn't been hit as I had been leaving the faster, more dangerous Grimm to those that could handle them. Attacking where I could be effective yet still able to get away. I'd more than noticed the difference between their combat abilities and mine by now.
The Nevermore cried out once more, the shrill noise piercing through the cacophony of the battle we were in. I felt the Grimm's massive wings pump its body higher and higher, getting a good distance away from the fight before it turned and nosedived down towards the canyon.
It was tired of waiting - it was going to break the entire temple this time.
I didn't doubt it could either, the momentum it had built along with the size of the creature could easily topple the entire structure.
None of the teachers had intervened yet, nor looked like they were going to from the bugs that I had watching them. Didn't they notice that the two boys were about to die? Or did they expect to save them after they got turned to pulp by the charge of the Nevermore or as they were falling into the oblivion of the gorge?
My bugs tried to make it to its eyes to bite or blind it, throw it off its course. The winds were too strong, and while the feathers of the monster had some protection from the air for my bugs, the bone mask did not.
Shit. Shit.
I leapfrogged over a Beowolf as its snapping jaws lunged to bite me. Everyone else was engaged with a Grimm or wouldn't get there in time. I kept going and didn't look back. I only had two rounds left in the chamber of my gun and no time to reload before the Nevermore would attack.
So, I did the only plan I had at the moment, a very stupid one at that.
I sprinted along the edge of the cliff, towards the approaching Nevermore and away from the fight. The Nevermore dropped out of its nosedive and leveled out its wings, keeping its speed and turning it into a controlled flight from which to slam through the side of the stone temple.
I flipped my sword in a reverse grip and turned the blade so that it was facing backward.
I watched the Nevermore as it approached through several angles, marking its accelerated speed with the bugs I had on it.
I turned around and sprinted the other direction, running beside the path the Grimm would take.
Then, I jumped.
I focused all the Aura I could into my arm and shoulder as I stabbed downwards, the shadowy wings appearing at the bottom of my view just as I swung. My descending blade firmly lodged into the Nevermore's wing as the force of the Grimm's charge worked against it.
The sudden jerk of my arm would have torn it clean off if not for my Aura.
The Nevermore cried out in pain as it broke off its charge, veering to the side of the temple as its wincing wing bled off its momentum.
My plan had been to jump off its wing back onto the cliffside. The Nevermore had mostly been gliding rather than pumping its wings and had stayed above the height of the forest the entire fight. Naturally, once I was on it was when it decided to change habits.
The Nevermore dived lower into the ravine as it flew, the platform where everyone was fighting now stories above me. It pumped its wings furiously, trying to remove the needling pain that was hampering its wing.
I was bludgeoned helplessly against its wing as I clung to my blade for dear life. I knew that if I let go of my sword then I wouldn't be able to react fast enough to grab a handful of the wing to hold on to. I would be thrown off by the slamming of wings or lost in the rush of wind. The irony was that every time it beat its wings, my sword dug a little deeper into the wing. I tried to squeeze some of the feathers between my legs for some kind of hold on the creature but I was bouncing off it too much.
Up and down, I felt my body slam into the feathered wing. A rollercoaster where you got slammed into a wall for every twist and turn.
The Nevermore rose just above the trees along the canyon to make a sloppy turn back towards the others. I couldn't find any form of footing that let me jump off into the trees and my bugs informed me that letting go meant I would still fall into the nothingness below.
Finally, the Nevermore painfully stretched its wings into a flat glide, putting me on the far side of the canyon from the others. The cut from my blade was more than a quarter through its wing, yet the creature still managed to fly.
My bugs had shown me that they had finished off the rest of the Grimm and were using the remains of the stone pillars to get to the temple where the two boys were.
Then, I felt the Nevermore begin to tilt its body and I realized why.
A protrusion of rock from the cliffside was swiftly approaching, and from how the Grimm was flying, I knew it was trying to get me off it more directly this time.
This feathered asshole.
I tried to twist the blade but it wouldn't budge against the Grimm's flesh.
Do I jump? No. Nowhere to jump and I doubted I'd get a good enough footing to make it anywhere. I didn't think any of the others could fly so I doubted I'd be getting help. Not enough bugs, can't get into position to do anything, doubt they could do anything if they ready anyway. Can't take the hit. Colliding with a rock face at this speed will be similar to the force of when we were launched. Except it'll be that amount of force straight into a rock face instead of through empty air. I'd have to focus as much as I could and pray that my remaining Aura could withstand the blow. A gamble I'm not willing to bet on.
Let go? Probably my best bet. Try to roll off the tip of the wing and catch the cliff.
"Taylor! Jump to the cliff!" I heard Ruby's voice yell out.
I tried to answer, to say that I wasn't able to, but the Nevermore gave a slight pump of its wings that knocked the words out of my lungs.
I felt the others line up with their guns out and fire a barrage of projectiles just as we passed by them. The impacts buffeted the Nevermore and forced it towards the cliff.
My eyes went wide as the Grimm's wing clipped the rockface much sooner than it had intended as it was still only just tilting. The section of the wing to the right of my cut caught purchase against the rock while the rest of the Nevermore kept going.
I watched as the wing of the creature split, sending us both spinning through the air. My bugs caught the sudden cries of the other students as I rocketed wildly toward the cliff.
My bugs gave me my position every moment I flew, letting me know when to strike during my flight. My blade stabbed forward into the rock and snapped with a clean twang.
I recovered quickly and struck the stone face again after my next somersault had finished, this time remembering to focus my Aura into the blade as well.
The broken blade skittered and halted with a jarring lurch. I looked around to see that I was hanging nicely off the cliff just below the edge of the cliff on the opposite side.
I heard the screech of the Nevermore fade into the distance as the bugs I had on it went out of range.
That is a very deep cliff and I'm glad I didn't chance testing its depth.
"Taylor! Are you okay!?" Ruby's worried voice bounced along the canyon walls.
"I'm alive," I yelled back.
Ruby looked like she was about to say something else but Nora pushed her out of the way.
"That was AWESOME!" Nora shouted, "You're a Nevermore wrangler!"
The mohawk boy and the gray-blue haired boy stood wide-eyed at the display but quickly decided they didn't to want to stick around anymore. They leaped from broken pillar to broken pillar to reach a stone plateau that was built into the base of the cliff, that had most likely been where the bridges from the temple structure had been leading to. They started to climb the rocks back up to the top.
I tried to find some kind of footing in the rocks but found that it was mostly smooth excluding the marks I had made with my now broken sword. I hadn't even had it for two days before breaking it. Practice with Aura would get me into the habit of using it in my weapons but right now it was frustrating, an amateur mistake that almost got me killed when I should have known I had to be conscious of my Aura since it was so new to me.
"You see Taylor," I muttered angrily to myself, "if you had just remembered you only have one arm before putting yourself in situations where you need to grab onto something besides the handle of a sword that could have dislodged at any moment, then you wouldn't be in this mess."
"Umm, do you need a hand?" Yang shouted, then began chuckling at her own pun.
"Yang!" Ruby admonished while both Weiss and Blake's palms met their foreheads.
"We'll find a way over to you!" Jaune yelled as they began to discuss how they would do that.
Great, I guess I get to just hang here and…
I froze.
My bugs had come back into range.
The bugs that had been on the Nevermore.
"Oh shit," I bemoaned before calling out to the others, "It's not dead!"
The others turned to me in confusion as the shadow of the Nevermore became visible through the fog of the gorge.
The one-winged Grimm was almost running up the cliff, its large talons carving into the granite with every step up. Black smog billowed out from its stump of a wing as the monster clawed its way toward me. Its speed up the cliff face was startling to say the least.
"I'm almost out of Dust."
"Two more shots left."
"I'm close to empty." I heard from the rest of the students.
I didn't have time to plan as I felt the Nevermore stop, plant its talons into the rock, and wind up its body so that its good wing was facing into the depths below. Then it pivoted with the full force of its body and swung its wing around.
I cringed and swung to the side just as large feathers speared their way into the area around me.
"Ahhhhhh! What do we do! Wait! I have an idea!" Ruby stated.
"This better be good, we have to get to Taylor now. Bullets aren't hurting this thing. We don't have time for-" Weiss began.
"No! This will help!" Ruby interrupted.
I pulled my bugs away from them without them being seen and sent them down into the fog then back up towards the Nevermore. I would need all the bugs I had for this.
The feather that had almost skewered me was about hip height so I had to pull myself up slightly to get a foot on it, then I used another to get a balanced stance as I braced my back against the cliff. The feathers weren't going to be budging with my weight; they had sunk at least a foot into the rock and I doubted I could get them out if I tried.
I looked down at my broken sword, the blade now only going out four inches before ending in a clipped stub.
I dropped the worthless blade and bent down to draw the nano-thorn dagger from my boot. I didn't know if it would turn on but at least it was a sharp blade even if it didn't work.
The echoes of the crunching rock resounded louder and louder as the Nevermore renewed its charge. Red light bleeding from the paths its eyes made as it came closer.
My only chance was going to be to dodge the strike from its beak and stab into it again. I didn't have the footing on these feathers to be nimble enough to avoid continuous attacks.
I brought my knife in front of me and got ready.
The Nevermore came crashing towards me.
Closer.
Sixty feet.
Fifty feet.
Each crunch of stone and angry cry echoed through the canyon. Drawing ever closer.
I heard a slicing sound above me and looked up to see the pistol form of Blake's weapon stabbed into the cliffside far above me, a black ribbon tied to it. I followed the ribbon and gawked at what I was seeing.
Blake was holding the other end of the ribbon with both hands, her legs wrapped around Yang's waist to hold the blonde girl up. Ruby was behind Blake while sitting on Yang's backside, her red scythe aiming backward. They were being held up off the floor by a black sigil that looked like a snowflake. Blake's face scrunched in strain from holding everyone.
Nora was dancing with excitement while the others watched with a mix of disbelief and dread.
"FIRE!" Ruby shouted along with her fist flying into the air.
Weiss waved her hand and the group of girls went swinging forward like a wrecking ball, building momentum as they flew. Rose petals went flying from them as Ruby fired her gun continuously to increase their speed.
Yang seemed to light on fire, her blonde hair shining with lights as her lilac eyes flashed into a fiery red. She looked like she was having the time of her life.
This can not be their plan.
I watched the spectacle before me, trying to conjure up the logic behind what they were doing.
Just then, the Nevermore lurched back and launched itself towards me. Its massive body encroaching took up my entire view.
It was almost with arm's reach when Yang's fist collided with it, breaking the stone behind the Nevermore and cratering the Grimm in it.
I heard a sickening crunch as Yang's punch caved in the Nevermore's torso, causing the Grimm to scream out its dying cry.
The sound cracked throughout the entire forest. The sheer force of the blow shook the cliff and caused me to lose my balance.
I fell forward just in time for the girls to begin swinging backward, letting Yang grab my wrist as they went.
I looked up to see Blake's face scrunch up from the effort as she held all of us up over the cliff as we swung freely through the air.
Don't let go. Don't let go. Don't let go.
She let go, but only just as she reached the zenith of our swing, sending us flying into the open arms of Nora and Pyrrha. We all went down in a fumbling heap onto the stone floor.
We all lay in a pile on the temple gasping for air from the exertion of what had just happened.
Yang was the first one to start laughing, a small chuckle that slowly built.
Ruby was the next to join her.
I found myself smiling as everyone began to laugh heartily. Happy to be alive. Flabbergasted that whatever just happened worked.
I guess we passed the initiation.
Chapter 9 End
Author Notes:
A big thank you to 6thfloormadness, Juff, and Biophosphoradelecrystalluminescence for cleaning this up and making it prettier to read. My shrine to you three will be glorious and my sacrifices to you bloody.
Is it Ursa, Ursas, Ursi? Whatever.
This one was fun. I'm continuously editing this thing, mostly fixing my grammar and shtuff, so I'll tell you all if I change anything major. FOR EXAMPLE: IN Chapter 4 I cut and changed Taylor's thoughts and trepidation around joining Beacon. I think it works better with 'wants-to-be-better-but-literally-just-lost-everyone-she-knows-and-her-entire-world-and-is-still-kinda-freakin-out Taylor'.
Is the action okay? Writing nine people fighting while Taylor is perceiving everything was... interesting.
Things will get 'better' for a while until I properly set up the suffering so that I can drink all your pain.