Disclaimer: I do not and WILL not own the rights to own or affect the characters or settings or direction of the actual RWBY property. (Unless they contact me for such purposes, but even then I wouldn't feel capable of giving any more particular insight on Monty's dream. It was his dream-baby and I only wish he could have lived to see it through…) Anyway, on to a more positive note! This story and its own unique elements are mine and mine alone to own and if anyone has any problems with that, then they are more than welcome to let me know why in a PM or some such medium. So, with that, let's all: 'Keep moving forward.'
A/N: The first half of the chapter is mostly just dialogue. So, just for reference, the battle itself will be nearly around halfway through or so, so keep an eye out for that.
"I sometimes wonder if the changes I've made, or will make, were worth it. That what I do to save the few here and now may result in the unexpected endangerment of the many elsewhere in the future. I don't know… but, I like to think that it all means something; that the consequences of all that I do may be rectified in due time."-G.V.H.
(Present, Location-Emerald Forest)
Silence…
An ever pervasive phenomenon, one which we have come to familiarize ourselves with time and time again, whether it was indirectly through our studies as we took the time to focus on whatever subject we tasked ourselves in trying to understand or directly through creating a serene environment to better develop and understand our very selves, such as in the case of meditation. Though, that begs the question as to why now of all times, in a forest filled with varying, contrasting personalities would such a state be able to exist at all? Well, there are several explanations as to how such a state could be achieved, each just as curious or mundane as any other:
One: spiritual peace/meditation, but that option was out of the way since most of those present did not meet the criteria to reach such a state; except for Lie Ren perhaps, but even he was as inexperienced in that field of practice as much as anyone else was, really.
Two: Death, but that option too was out of the question since most, if not all, of those present still drew breath and could feel their hearts pounding in their chests from all that the events leading up to this moment.
And, the last obvious answer is simply this: Pondering, a moment in which one wonders over a given set of circumstances, whether it's observed information, visual or auditory (or other sensory) input or just plain stupefaction as one simply tries to deal with the here and now.
In this case, it seemed like the latter seemed to be the more plausible compared to the rest. Because, here we find our fellowship as they all stand around in each of their own varying states of perplexity and reflection after hearing of an accounting of events just moments prior.
Blake, at the moment, was deep in thought, her hand propped up under her chin in a contemplative pose of sorts, more or less just bouncing around ideas and theories on several things at the moment. All the while, an occasional twitch from the bow atop her head would make itself known for but a moment before stopping just as suddenly as it appeared, thankfully for Blake nobody seemed to notice.
Weiss herself was pacing back and forth quietly in her own little spot, wondering what they were going to do now that not only was there a gigantic creature in front of them blocking their way forward, but that it may very well attempt to crush them on its course to claim the life of their troublesome ally; at the moment, she was in a mix between angry, perturbed, clueless, wondering, planning, ranting and even partially skeptical, mostly in due part to the idea that there was no way someone like this nobody could have trapped and escaped from such a massive and apparently experienced creature like this; one of the thoughts she had in particular being, 'There's no way any of that was true. No way, no how.' Though, even she had to admit that the story could hold some merit somehow, since there was literally living, standing proof of such an encounter standing in front of them all; far away, thankfully, at least for the moment.
Ruby, in the meantime, had a serious look on her face as she looked down at the ground slightly, thinking about several things ranging from: fear for her friend's lives as well as her own, trepidation for the route they would have to take to fight through and around this new threat and finally admiration for her friend, Gabriel, for facing what was paramount to an unstoppable force amongst Grimm and coming out on the other side of the encounter in one piece. Oh, and she was kind of hungry too, milk and cookies sounded really nice right about now…
Next, there was Jaune who, in comparison to everyone else, was in a fairly despondent mood at the moment as he sat crouched on the ground with his head in his' hands, groaning. This was attributed to his train of thought leading him to wish he had never got out of bed this morning had he known what he was going to be dealing with today.
Pyrrha, meanwhile, stood beside Jaune as she left a hand on Jaune's shoulder comfortingly, hunched over beside him as she murmured words of encouragement to try to cheer him up and make him realize that moping around here wasn't going to solve anything and so on and so forth; honestly, she'd kind of have her work cut out for her, but she cared too much about him just to let something like this get him, or anyone else for that matter, down for good. So, she'd keep trying until she finally broke through to him.
Ren, like Blake, was deep in thought, observing the three large threats encircling and standing idle in the distance around them as he both wondered what the Grimm were waiting on, rather than immediately striking at them at this moment, as well as pondering over a certain, nagging feeling that he couldn't quite place which was buzzing around in the back of his mind before soon realizing it was his mind's way of telling him that Nora had been far too quiet for far too long, which undoubtedly meant that trouble would quickly ensue considering the nature of his' childhood friend. Understandably, this line of thought was already leading him into a reserved panic as he looked for the now-absent Nora.
The girl in question, rather than worrying about consequential thoughts and issues as well as figuring that bigger, better minds would be better suited to ponder on this type of issue, took this time to skip around in a nearby part of the clearing, opposite of the direction of the idle Grimm, trying to catch a randomly wandering butterfly that found itself separated from the rest. Then, just as she pounced on the lone, roving insect and cupped it in her hands, laughing in glee as she did so, a sudden "Nora!" from her dearest friend, Ren, broke her concentration enough to where her hands unclasped themselves from one another and allowed her quarry to escape from, quite literally, right between her fingers, causing her to huff audibly and pout at the failed attempt to capture it. Standing up, she quickly turned around and headed back to the group, none the wiser to the possible danger she could have found herself in had the Grimm decided to chase after her during her brief expedition.
The reason, not that anyone participating in the initiation would know, for this being simply that while the Goliath silently stewed within its own sense of wrath the more reasonable sections of its mind still reminded the rest that even as powerful as it was, against a fully armed group of hunters, while lacking in experience more than made up for it with both energy and numbers, it would more than certainly not survive the encounter. Knowing that the odds weren't in its favor, it understood that if it wanted to make sure it accomplished its own personal vendetta, it'd have to wait until the right opportunity presented itself-for sooner or later its target would have to separate from the rest, eventually; As for the Nevermore and Deathstalker, at the appearance of one of the more revered members of their species, they had chosen to act as figurative wingmen and under an unspoken order from their leader would only act once the other minor, non-essential humanoids diverged from the Goliath's objective. Otherwise, if enough time passed and their patience could no longer stay them, they would simply work to create such an opportunity for their superior brethren to act upon while they dealt with those that remained.
And lastly, there was the ever-fiery Yang, who, after a few moments of silence as she digested all that was told to her and everyone else, reinforced this bountiful quality of character as she, in all her blazing glory, tightened her incredible grip on the man's clothed armor and shouted right in his face.
"Do you know what you've done?! You've risked all of our lives because you didn't make sure this big, stupid thing was dead!"
"How was I supposed to know it would find a way out?! It was a damned tar pit! There wasn't even anything around for it to use to free itself! Besides, I was in a hurry! I couldn't just wait around for an hour just to make sure it was dead, I had things to do!" He responded, giving her a frustrated glare, one which she not-so-subtly returned.
"Well, it doesn't really matter now, does it? It found us, and the only reason it's even here is because of you! It followed you here somehow and now you're risking both my sister's life as well as those of everyone here!" At this, she gave him a forceful shove, disgusted by the idea of even being anywhere near him. So much so that she was just an inch away from smashing his face in with a combustive punch from Ember Cilica.
"I didn't expect for this to happen! How could I?" He paused to let out a frustrated breath, trying to calm himself down as he continued in a much more sober demeanor. "Look, I'm sorry. Maybe you're right. Maybe I should have been a bit more proactive and found a way to destroy it or something. But, I didn't. And now I'm going to have to be the one who's going to be paying for it, Yang."
"It's not just you, Gabriel! We're all here too! What about us?!"
"Don't worry, Yang. I know what I need to do." He said with quiet reluctance and an audibly resigned sigh.
"Wait, wha-?" Yang tried to ask, though her inquiry was interrupted by Gabriel shouting out to the group, gathering all of their attention in the process, even Jaune's after his period of self-deprivation had come to an end, uplifted thanks in no small part to Pyrrha's patient efforts.
"Everyone, listen up! It looks like we're going to need a new plan."
"Well, we can figure that out, Genius!" Weiss bitterly interjected from her spot, though it was ignored for the most part as Gabriel continued speaking, seemingly unfazed by the remark.
"Because this big, giant Grimm has so decided to grace us with its presence, were are not going to be just walking out of here like we had first hoped!" He yelled out in a voice not unlike that of a drill sergeant, though because of his own peculiar vocal range, which wasn't quite as suited for the no-nonsense, supposedly angry tone implied by the stereotype, his voice was only 'slightly' underwhelming in its approach. Why he chose to use this particular way of speaking in the first place was anyone's guess, but it gathered everyone's attention well enough so he continued on.
"So, as we can all figure, we're all going to have to fight our way out of here! But, since there are now three major threats in front of us, some more overwhelmingly powerful than the others, things are really starting to look bleak and it looks like I won't be able to occupy the attention of each and every one of them and I'll more than likely be needing all your help to do it instead! So, for the sake of simplicity, what I'm implying is that we're going to have to split up and draw each Grimm from the others so they can't work together and eliminate us all one by one. But, I suppose you all had a similar idea in mind, right?" He asked, almost rhetorically but figured it was worth asking, hoping the broad statement would bring about other ideas or scenarios he and the others could enact with their current predicament.
After hearing what he had to say, many of the others looked at each other apprehensively, thinking that while the plan didn't seem particularly unruly or daunting, the odds they'd be facing would surely show otherwise. And for a while most of them didn't say anything. Yet, surprisingly enough, Jaune of all people walked forward, gaining everyone's attention away from their own thoughts as they all turned to look at him until he stood a few feet away from Gabriel before stopping.
"Look man. I get what you're trying to say, but this whole thing is just crazy! I mean, three giant Grimm? That's insane! We aren't meant to be ready for this, we're just kids! What do they expect us to do against these things?" Jaune asked, his whole person just radiating a miasma of worry and angst as he made his reservations known aloud to his comrade and friend.
"Jaune." Gabriel responded with an understanding look on his face. "I'm just as scared as you are about how this whole thing will play out. But if you or anyone else has any other ideas on what we should do, I'm all ears. But right now, I'm just trying to make sure we have a suitable plan of action for what we have to deal with right now, now that we've basically been blind-sided. I want to make sure we all get out of here safely and in one piece." Gabriel explained, waving a hand around emphatically at the point while he shifted most of his weight to one leg and leant back whilst crossing his arms.
"And I understand that. But I'm not sure if we're able to handle all this. I'm not even sure if these guys were even supposed to be a part of the test!"
"And so what if they weren't? They are now and we can't do anything to change that except deal with it. Well, unless you have some other, magical way for us to get out of this sticky situation that we've found ourselves in?"
At this statement, Jaune could only look down sheepishly, twiddling his thumbs together nervously as he readied himself to suggest this new idea he had in mind. "Well, I was just thinking that, uh…" He paused, hesitating for a few more moments as he tried to figure out the best way of letting Gabriel in on the idea that he had without making himself out to be a fool.
"Spit it out, Jaune." Gabriel said a bit more tersely than he would have liked as he tapped his foot on the ground impatiently, awaiting Jaune's answer.
"I- I, Uh... I was just going to suggest we all stay here! You know, wait this thing out until help arrives and maybe try again next time when things are a little less dangerous!" Jaune suggested nervously, looking down at the ground after giving his thoughts on the matter, not daring to look his friend in the eye lest he feel even more of a fool after giving his friend what he thought amounted to a cowardly plan.
Sighing to himself in self-deprecation, Jaune was broken from his downtrodden reverie once he felt a hand settle itself onto his shoulder. Looking at the settled limb, Jaune followed it towards its owner who, rather than having a look of condescendence shown towards him, gave him a look of understanding and brought his arm back towards himself once he was sure he had gotten Jaune's attention.
"I know you mean well, Jaune. And in any other circumstance that probably would be the best way to get everyone out of here safely." It was at this point Gabriel sighed to himself tiredly before continuing. "But, we can't count on help coming for us, or at least not any time soon."
"W-what makes you say that?" Jaune asked nervously, looking at his friend imploringly, wondering why his plan of caution wouldn't work out after all.
"Well, Ozpin did say that we would have to 'Destroy everything in your way, or you will die'." He said, using his hands to make quotation marks in the air before he brought his' arms back down to his' sides as he continued. "So, he probably expects us to make our own exit strategy simply by either fighting our way out… or die trying." Gabriel said plainly, looking at Jaune with a blank look on his face.
"Huh? Wait! There's no way they would actually let that happen to us, right? They're teachers! It's their job to make sure we're okay!" Jaune said frightfully, giving Gabriel a terrified look as he shook in place slightly, though whether it was from either fear or outrage was hard to say.
"No, their job is to make sure we learn something. And if that means they have to risk the occasional, unlucky student not returning from this initiation so that other qualified pupils can continue to learn and grow, I believe they would resign themselves to be fully committed to that course of action." Gabriel explained in a no-nonsense tone. Though, if he was to be honest with himself, even he didn't like the answer he had given Jaune.
"But- But they can't do that! How could they think for even a second that they could get away with something like that?!" Jaune exclaimed in equal parts terror and frustration as he marched up until he stood face-to-face with his friend.
Inching just the slightest bit forward until he was nearly nose-to-nose with Jaune, Gabriel, despite how calm he seemed, slightly heatedly responded with:
"As much as nobody likes to admit it, we're at War, Jaune. They can't chance letting some incompetent fool get themselves and/or their team slaughtered because of a stupid mistake they made on the field. And as the instructors of one of the most esteemed academies in all of Remnant it's their job to make sure every single graduate from here is battle-tested and ready for the world ahead of them. This isn't a game, Jaune. Things like this," He motioned beside them beyond the cusp of the hill they were all hiding behind to the large Grimm in the distance before continuing on with his tirade. ", can happen at any moment, and there won't be anyone to help us then! So, we have to learn here and now…" He said, gesturing with a downward finger for dramatic emphasis. "…that the only things we have that we can truly depend on are ourselves and EACH. OTHER! Nothing else!" It was at this point after finishing the small speech just how flustered he had become about the subject, and figuring how serious he was about it, Gabriel too seemed to be as terrified about the whole situation as Jaune was, though apparently he had taken it all in stride as the details of the test were given and had dealt with the conclusions of it all on his own anyway.
Nearby, the other students who had found themselves eaves-dropping on the discussion shied away slightly at the realistic tone of it all, or at least some of them were. A few of the others in attendance had already reached the same conclusion and had already come to terms with it as well.
Letting out ragged breaths, once he had backed-up away from Jaune somewhat, Gabriel straightened himself up and relaxed his breathing and stature as he regained his calm composure and awaited Jaune's inevitable response, whatever it may be, vocal or otherwise.
Stunned by the barrage of blunt truths that assaulted him, Jaune could only stand there numbly as he looked at and beyond his friend to nothing in particular as thoughts jumbled themselves around in his head. Moments passed by silently between them before Jaune visibly sagged in place and shook his head, not out of denial but out of weary resignation. Then, he made his response known aloud at last.
"It makes sense…and I hate it. I really, really do… but, you did make a good point in all of this. It seems we can't just wait this thing out after all." He paused, sighing. "… alright, I guess we're doing things your way." As he finished the statement, Jaune looked up to meet the eyes of his friend, not with the fear and apprehension that had plagued him thus far, but rather with a look of resigned acceptance. Though, considering the stakes and what may be demanded of them in the next few minutes it could be understood why he was as weary about their chances as he was.
Chuckling slightly in both relief at and of Jaune's response, Gabriel let the warmth of camaraderie fill him at the moment as he gave the other guy a brief, weary smile and said, "Thanks for understanding, Jaune. I'm glad you were at least willing to hear me out on all this.", stepping up to the other male 'leader' of the group of young warriors and patting him good-naturedly on the arm, which in turn caused Jaune to rub his arm nervously and give a half-hearted chuckle afterwards.
"Yeah, yeah whatever. So, about that plan you had? Who's going with whom? 'Cause I don't want to be left hanging out to dry with that Deathstalker… again. Or at least not without Pyrrha or someone else to help me out again." Jaune said with no small amount of trepidation as he rubbed his arm nervously, looking to his friend tentatively for a comforting, thoughtful answer as to the situation they would be faced with.
"Well," Gabriel started off calmly, taking a cursory glance over everyone as he began. "Like I said before, we were going to have to split up into three separate groups, one for each Grimm if you couldn't tell. However, because of our asymmetrical numbering, we'd have to split off into groups of three-"
"Dibs on Ren and guitar-guy!" The voice of one Nora Valkyrie said as she bounced in her spot jubilantly amongst the ring of people that had formed since the two boys had started speaking while she had her arm raised, waving it for any and all to see and thus drawing everyone's attention for a few brief moments before their attention was once again gathered by the previously interrupted individual.
"-But doing so would mean the manpower for each individual group would be limited and a single less person to coordinate with could mean the difference between life and death; Which is why I am not going to be going with that tactic."
"So, what did you have in mind, then?" Jaune asked uneasily, looking between each of the other members of the initiation before looking back to the other member of his' current conversation.
"Well, what I have is basically the same plan as before, except I'm not going to be able to do it alone anymore, not if you all want to get out of here safely." He paused, getting a few affirmative murmurs at the statement before continuing. "Which is why I'm going to have everyone instead split off into two groups, one group holding off the two Grimm while they escape to safety while the last group worries about dealing with the incredibly deadly Goliath."
"Alright, and how would one do that? It seems like a pretty big risk to just split us up like that instead of fighting together as a single unit. Wouldn't a united front normally result in a better overall defense for all involved?" Said the until-now previously silent voice of Blake Belladonna, whose point had gotten a few affirmative murmurs and slight nods of agreement from some of the others around her, though she wasn't looking for their approval, but simply just the acknowledgement from the man in the center of it all.
"And you'd be right in that line of thinking if that was all that there was to it. But, you didn't let me finish."
"Then by all means, please elaborate." She said, waving her hand with a small flourish in front of her as she awaited his' answer, perceptive yellow eyes peering beyond the veil of darkness of Gabriel's cowl masking his features and right into his dark-brown eyes, the action leaving him unnerved once he caught it. Though, before anyone could notice he calmed himself and went on to expand upon his previous statements and responded back to Blake.
"Sure thing. Like I was saying, if things get hairy and none of us can escape soundly, out of the nine of us, four of us need to go and face off against the Deathstalker while another four find a way to bring down the Nevermore in case it becomes a big enough problem for all of you. Now, I'm not sure who could best work together with one another so I'll be letting you all figure out who's going with whom for yourselves. But, while you all try to get back to the cliff, and hopefully to safety, I'll be dealing with the Goliath myself."
"Wait, hold on." The soft, feminine voice of one Ruby Rose said aloud, gathering Gabriel's attention as he turned around to look towards the source of the lone voice.
"Gabriel, I… I just want you to be safe. If going alone is what you think is best then I can't stop you. But please, please, just be safe and come back to us as soon as this whole thing is over. Can you do that, for me?" She asked him, an imploring, worried look fixing itself on her face as she looked at him, awaiting his reply.
Seeing her expectant yet apprehensive expression, despite whatever uneasiness he may have felt about the situation at hand or forthcoming, he felt it'd be prudent to at least show some sense of confidence despite venturing out on a task that many would consider harrowing at best, before deciding upon a suitable answer to help alleviate her worries.
"Of course, Ruby. Anything for you. Besides, I made you a promise, remember?" He said, smiling at her gently before taking a brief step towards her to pat her upper arm, near her shoulder. "Now come on, we have a fight to win." And with that, he began to walk off, passing by both Yang and Weiss as he started to head in the direction of the nearby hill which shielded them from being in the direct sight of the circling Grimm; Meanwhile, everyone who heard his final remark decided that it was now as good a time as any to leave and thus everyone made to join in the trek to finally face the Grimm.
However, before they all went beyond the crest of the hill ahead of them and into the fray, Yang quickly laid a gauntleted hand on top of Ruby's shoulder, quickly halting the younger girl in her tracks as well as causing the other two members of their impromptu group, Weiss and Blake, to halt in their steps a few feet away while they waited for the two sisters to finish whatever business was keeping them.
"Soooo…" Yang said, drawing the word out while having an entirely too calm look on her face as she looked away from her sister before it quickly drifted back onto Ruby and morphed into a sly, devious grin as she once again spoke up to continue whatever point she wanted to bring up. "You sounded really concerned about him before, Sis; You must really care about him. You liiiike him, don't you?" Yang said with an all too innocent tone in her voice, though it was obvious from the look that she was giving Ruby that the question in itself implied much more than what could be seen from it at face value.
"What? Ewww, Yang! It's not like that! We're just friends! Really good friends." Though as she said this, her statement drifted off as she felt that although what she was saying was certainly true, somewhere deep down within herself a small voice was saying that perhaps what she felt for him was maybe just a little bit more than what she would consider as just an average friend, especially with how much concern and worry she seemed to show towards him in these last couple of conversations alone that she had with him.
"Oooohhh, that's all? Well, to me it looks like you-"
"Oh, come on! Is this really the time to be talking about this?!" Weiss interrupted, thankfully saving Ruby from having to answer any more potentially embarrassing questions for right now.
"She's right you know. I believe there are more important things we should be worrying about right now." Blake added as she calmly looked over briefly into the horizon where the Grimm gathered as they awaited their arrival.
"Ohhh, fine! You guys are no fun! Well, whatever. I guess it's time to go kick butt and take names!" And with that, she punched her fists together in excitement before rushing off into battle, her teammates following in her wake as soon as they noticed she set off. However, as soon as they all began to leave, Ruby turned to Weiss and made a hushed 'Pssst' to her, promptly gathering the Heiress' attention before she could, causing said girl to turn around as her partner began to speak.
"Hey, thanks for having my back, back there. I really appreciate it." She said genuinely, giving her teammate an appreciative smile as she did said this.
"Yeah, well, don't count on me helping you out again. Now isn't the time for gossip and I'd very much like to focus on staying alive right now, if you wouldn't mind." And with that, she cut off any further conversation with her by turning her focus ahead and nearly sprinting forward and catching up to the two other members of their group, leaving her partner to catch up to them.
"Sure thing, buddy!" Ruby yelled out from behind, getting a non-appreciative grunt from Weiss as she continued to move forward with the rest of the team while Ruby herself effortlessly caught up to them effortlessly with her own unique brand of speed, along with a brief use of her semblance, before soon enough passing them altogether and leading them all onward, the others wordlessly following along behind her.
Meanwhile, ahead of everyone else, Gabriel stood over the crest of the hill, watching along behind him towards the other groups which were rapidly approaching before soon enough they all caught up to him and slowed down as they too reached the top of the small hill they were on. It was here that they all got a clear glimpse of the various obstacles which stood before them in the distance; however, they also got a good glimpse of a bridged system of ruins nearby that would lead them to victory-and hopefully, safety.
So, with that, they all wordlessly raced towards the area in unison, the large Grimm following in their wake as they followed their seemingly inexperienced prey towards what they considered their impending doom.
Well, almost all of them did…
(Point of Interest-Gabriel)
While most of those gathered in the area advanced towards other, tactical locations to complete or impede the initiation, respectively, two individuals from each corresponding side of the conflict decided to stay behind at the hilled area that made up the clearing surrounding the ruins both sides had initially gathered at. Those two being Gabriel and the Goliath, both of whom found themselves standing not-so-far from one another as they stared at the other silently, neither one making the first move to act or attack as of this moment.
However, in this ensuing, silent stalemate, an unseen presence made itself known, not openly to the both of them but rather the one whose existence it had found itself bound to for some time…
"My Dear…" A fairly mature yet distinctly feminine voice said from seemingly nowhere, nearly causing the cloaked man to jump in his' spot in surprise. Though, luckily for him, he kept himself calm, thus keeping the Goliath from reacting in turn and charging before he was ready, especially now that he had a sudden, unexpected guest to deal with.
Turning his' attention inwards, Gabriel thought aloud to the mysterious, yet all too familiar, spectral voice.
'Aetulia? I haven't heard from you since I got here. Where have you been?'
"Still residing within you, biding my time equally between observing the world and resting and recuperating whatever essence of myself that I can. Ever since I have left my domain, my power has dissipated into an echo of what it once was; though, in reality, it was never very grand to begin with." The woman, now known as Aetulia, explained as she silently shifted within the confines of the man's mind, body and soul restlessly, an uneasiness which Gabriel could barely sense, despite her supposedly ethereal constitution.
'Oh, well, I hope you're going to be okay. So, what brings you to my attention at the moment, Aetulia?' He asked, all the while physically keeping a solid gaze at the enormous Goliath ahead while the rest of his' mind was focused on the conversation happening within.
"I wished to provide some insight concerning an issue which has been plaguing your mind ever since your arrival in this world, especially since one of the grandest examples to help prove the point now stands before you. Well, us, I should say."
'That being?' He asked with an almost impatient tone in his' voice, a detail which did not completely elude Aetulia though she allowed it to slide by just this once, considering the source of his' stress was now currently standing before him some distance off.
"Simply put, the reason that this Grimm, as well as numerous others that may happen upon your vicinity, is be able to find, as well as retain its sole focus on, you at almost any distance… is all because of me…" She said in an almost ashamed tone, which coming from a kind, elegant soul such as hers came to a surprise to Gabriel, considering he felt that she would never do anything to which she would have to apologize for, and it unsettled, almost frightened, him.
'Wait, what? Why? How?' He asked in a terse manner, eager to know more about what she had to say about such a phenomenon which he had been peripherally noticing for some time.
"Well, it is only a theory, but with each passing occurrence between you and the beasts it seems that my theory is becoming more and more certain. As you know, these creatures, these… Grimm, seem to be attracted to perceivable amounts of negative emotions, and perhaps energy, and follow them towards wherever their source may be with a terrible, ruthless zeal. You saw this during the siege along the transport route where you first encountered this beast, where those people's emotions permeated into an atmosphere which in itself acted as a beacon for these creatures. But, as we've seen, they have for the most part ignored them all in favor of you, of us. Due to these principles upon which these beings reside upon, they are bound to follow the strongest well of negative emotions they can find, which for the time being seems to be me as I may very well be the most significant source of such resonance within this realm, seeming as I am essentially the very embodiment of sorrow itself." She elaborated informatively, and if she could breathe, she would have more than likely have been winded by the end of her explanation.
Gabriel, meanwhile, was sobered by this forthcoming explanation. While it did provide an explanation as to the peculiar behavior expressed by the Grimm recently, it was all quite a lot to take in all at once. After a minute of silently stewing about within his own convoluted thoughts on the issue, he finally decided upon an answer to give to the fair, womanly spirit.
'Understood, Aetulia. Is there anything else you can tell me or that I should know? Anything at all?'
Hesitating for a few moments as she wondered if this next expression of worriment seemed too personal. But, deciding it would be best not to leave any concerns left unsaid she finally made her worried thoughts known to him, "Just… please be careful, my dear. I can sense that the Colossus before you is very ancient and it may very well be the most dangerous threat to you in this world, aside from whatever, or whoever, created it."
'I'll keep that in mind. Though, I'm sure that compared to what I've had to deal with in the past, this shouldn't be anything too dire. I'm certain that I'll be just fine." He responded coolly, his voice displaying a confidence that he himself perhaps only peripherally felt, for no one but a machine could really stand to be completely calm when staring down a creature that could flatten entire towns.
"…Fine." She said with reluctant acceptance after a few moments pause. "But, please don't do anything exceptionally foolhardy, if you could help it at least." She requested of him, especially since if anything were to happen to him, it would most certainly affect her as well; but, her own fate was really only a secondary concern to her now anyway, seeing as she was only just a spirit that lingered with him for some unforeseen purpose; she also might have just been a little bit fond of him as well; in a maidly/caretakerly sort of way. Though, she would never really admit that to anyone aloud other than him, though she might be reluctant to answer even him should he ever decide to ask.
'Hopefully I won't need to. But, I think I'll be just fine either way. Though, do please let me know if anything remarkable arises, alright?' He asked with an imaginary smile, which if it were to manifest into a corporeal form would most certainly be positively beaming..
"Of course. Be safe, my dear. For now, though, I must still recuperate what energy I can if ever a time comes that you may need it. But, if you ever come to need my aid or consideration over anything, I'll be here."
'Will do, Aetulia. And thank you, I really do appreciate your concern.' And now, as he felt her essence slowly recede back into the confines of his being he turned his thoughts from the internal exchange within himself and now focused fully on the world outside at last now that it was over. 'Now, where were we?'
At this, he took in the sight of the beast once again, who had all the while patiently stayed rooted at its spot at the end of its trodden path, and began to ponder which route of action to take against this grand and ancient foe. And realizing that, for the moment, it had chosen to fume idly in its place, perhaps too planning on what it wanted to do now that it had its own target in its sights as well, he felt that the best way to start off this inevitable conflict was not with power, but with precision and distance. Thus, he reached behind himself and under his cloak, feeling around until he felt the general roughness of something other than his' armor or his' other weapons and after feeling around a bit more he noticeably relaxed upon feeling and grasping the cold, metal frame of 'Teddy' before bringing it around and gripping it along its ergonomic handle and frame. Once it was in hand, he aimed along the highly-enhanced scope of the weapon and looked at the creature, which seemed particularly unfazed by this action, knowing full well of the degree of effectiveness, or lack thereof, that firearms seemed to have on it.
And so, seeing this already steady state of tense unconcern by the creature, Gabriel felt that it'd be best to fight it, not while it was focused and able to experience to use in the forthcoming battle, but instead face it while it was, for a lack of a better phrase, 'dumb and angry'. Therefore, a good place to start would be like with his last encounter with the Goliath-catching its attention by targeting a soft, vulnerable spot, and that scarred eye looked like as good a place as any to start. And thus, once he accounted for all the inevitable elements that would ultimately affect the accuracy of his shot, with his aim true and his mind resolved, he fired…
Boom!
And away the shot went, until…
Wrrraaaaoooorrrr!
The Goliath bellowed deeply, the noise almost shaking the air and area around it as its head rose up abruptly as the sharp pain of something impacting against its unprotected eye surged through its skull, reducing the already crippled vision in that eye and diminishing it to practically non-existent.
After that instinctual recoil, the creature looked back at the distant figure of the man, its lone remaining eye glowing all the brighter due to its building rage while its now disabled eye was left a jagged mess of black tissue, a small line of ebony liquid dripping down from the terrible mess of flesh like some unholy, demonic blood-water as it cascaded along the creature's ivory mask, creating a few new lines to add to the creature's already animalistic design as the trails of liquid split apart.
However, in this moment, the creature's thoughts went from moderate loathing into a cold fury. Its state of mind turning once-tactical contemplations into merely unrefined thoughts. It was in this state where it decided to itself that there would be no holding back, no further recoiling from such menial anguish, that nothing else would be felt other than the pathetic creature's warm life-blood flowing under its pillar-like feet as it towered over its fallen opponent. That and the cold fulfillment of erasing this lone, troublesome being from existence once and for all, following in line with the demand that all Grimm unerringly follow. Even it.
And with that, the Goliath let out another, less intense roar. Backing up onto its hind-legs once again before settling back down, shaking the ground noticeably as it did so, it charged towards the lone warrior, the red glow from its lone remaining eye leaving a small residual streak of light in its wake as it rushed at a break-neck pace that could only come from something as grand in size as the Goliath.
Back at his spot, Gabriel looked on at the rapidly encroaching form of the Goliath through his scope, and though such a sight would leave other Huntsmen, no matter how experienced they were, quaking in their spots, he stood strong, unyielding even in the face of what would have otherwise been certain death.
The other reason why he was so steadfast was because of the fact that in its current state, if he failed, the Goliath certainly wouldn't stop at just him, it would more than likely continue its onslaught against everyone here as well, having dealt with arguably the only one there that could stop it; and, even if everyone were to work together to bring it down, it would be more than likely that there would be at least some casualties along the way; whether they were simply serious injuries or some far worse fate. And so, he knew he had to succeed, no matter the cost to himself or his potential future should he make a mistake at any point past this moment. He'd stop this thing, right here, right now. Or die trying…
"You and your kind sought my power, you will have it." Gabriel declared lowly in a placid manner, more to himself than anything, as he tucked away the rifle behind his back once again, seeing as it would more than likely be of no more use to him any longer today, and reached for the other detracted item along his back and brought it forward. Once the weapon was in hand, he grasped along the lever that ran along the side of the item and pulled it, extending it into its off-white, skeletal glory, thus revealing that it was indeed his' signature weapon, The Crescent Eclipse. And with but a flick of his hand, a small hum resonated through the air, the white, glowing blade of superheated energy that made up the blade of the weapon extending itself, reaching nearly a meter in length from the tip of its point to the slot it extended from; All the while, steam and gas wafted around the blade as it steamed and evaporated the very moisture in the air around it.
And with but a shimmer of his armor, Gabriel's ethereal wings were summoned along his back and instantly he flew off towards the Goliath, intent on meeting it half-way and giving it the clash it so desperately wanted.
And thus, the war between these two great powers began…
(Point of Interest-Ruby & Jaune's Groups)
Minutes passed in which both impromptu teams of warriors traded blows, bullets and blasts against the strikes of the more powerful and durable Grimm, occasionally having to swap some members of their own respective, make-shift groups as this battle of initiation raged on.
Despite the initial inclusion of their newfound ally earlier in the test, the events of this battle remained relatively unchanged and the corresponding series of events leading to this forthcoming point were relatively intact. Thus, fate would once again bring us to this familiar, awe-inspiring moment in the history of Remnant and its heroes.
As Jaune and his team finally finished off their Grimm, not so subtly sending it careening down to its improvised grave a thousand feet below them in the foggy abyss below them, they all took the recent lull in activity to briefly recover their energy in the post-battle glory against the Deathstalker. At this point, while the majority of their small group all once again stood up to prepare to aid the other two partnerships on the platforms across the cavern that separated them, one figure in their group remained stationary in their prone position nearby, this figure being Lie Ren- who had felt the need necessary to collapse after their harrowing skirmish, mostly due to the fact that he himself had taken the brunt of the assaults made upon his team, though no worse for wear from what one would imagine; mostly, he just seemed exhausted at the moment.
Despite this small discrepancy, the remaining three standing members of this group of warriors continued to stare on, awestruck, as Ruby and Yang's teams dealt with their own remaining threat in their own respective way, which as far as they could see, would be quite the sight to remember.
As time went on and this plan continued to proceed along as expected, Ruby herself finally reached the Nevermore, having been 'launched' through the combined efforts of her sister Yang, Ms. Belladonna and Weiss Schnee, and after angling herself in the right position to further proceed with her plan, used her scythe's blade to grip the underside of the Grimm's throat. With her momentum, she carried it out from its previous icy confines and with her scythe gripping under its neck she carried it along the cliff, thanks in both part to the force generated by her weapon's recoil along with her partner's, Weiss', specially attuned runic semblance she was allowed to carry her the blackened creature up and along the flat, vertical surface of the cliff-edge.
And as the young girl yelled out in what could only be described as 'sheer determination', she continued to carry the large Grimm along until finally they reached the top of the precipice and with one last, great yell and thrust, yanked her weapon forward, causing her weapon to finally reach the point necessary to finally end the existence of this once terrible creature of darkness.
Thus, the Nevermore was slain, its head cleanly decapitated from its body as both head and body drifted down the cliffside and into the foggy canyon below soundlessly, briefly leaving the smallest of trails of red rose petals from its exposed wounds in its wake.
Looking on at the scene in awe, Jaune and his group, now including one newly-rejuvenated Lie Ren, continued to stare in unrestrained mesmerization. And by its dramatic, climactic end, one person in their group made known aloud the lone thought currently running through all their heads at the moment:
"Wow.", was all Jaune and anybody else had to say about that, and it was most certainly enough of a description of this moment.
And from her newly-anointed perch of victory, Ruby briefly strolled towards the cliff's edge and gazed down to the tier below, watching both the result of her work drift down into the unseen cavity below as well as the significantly-impressed visages of her classmates and teammates below; and either within or without her knowledge, to accentuate this prestigious moment in her life, a fair multitude of her red roses left behind by her semblance and actions drifted on beside her before carrying on into the wind moments later, making only the most subtle sound of fluttering as they departed.
Down below, one could hear the bold voice of Ruby's sister, Yang, as she made her own off-hand remark about the situation known, feeling it'd be a good time as any to let off a single, witty one-liner before they proceeded along out of there.
"Well…" She said, pausing to catch her breath after the harrowing and exciting skirmish just moments earlier, "… that was a thing.", and finishing the statement with a brief, sidelong glance to Ruby's partner, Weiss, before turning back to look at her sister, truly and utterly impressed at what she had been able to accomplish.
Though, while this momentary lull in excitement was well and truly welcome, the state of both time and the world do not stand still and like all things, change is to be expected. And, despite all that has happened thus far under normal pretenses, this path of reality-this universe-would prove to be no different than any other.
In other words: normally this would be the time they'd get to finish up the test and go back to doing whatever it was that students do in their off-time, but destiny had other plans at the moment.
From atop her perch, Ruby was the first to notice this peculiar event happening in the distance, watching silently as a pillar of unsettling darkness raised itself in a distant part of the forest, a place which seemed eerily familiar to her before soon realizing it was near where they had last seen the sole person not present amongst their groups at the moment.
Meanwhile, the others down below quickly turned their attention to the happening as well, both in reaction to Ruby's sudden change in focus as well as the accompanying sound of wind 'whooshing' rushing through the area at a steady rhythm as the thin tornado of dark, mystical energy continued to oscillate in its spot in the distance.
Then, after several agonizingly long moments of both curiosity and trepidation passed amongst both groups, the tornado slowly started dissipating and wavering before soon disappearing from the world entirely, leaving behind no trace that it had ever been there in the first place; Even the forest and the very ground the event took place upon seeming to be unaffected in the slightest, even the enormous form of the Goliath itself being seemingly absent from the area as far as they all could tell.
Despite this seemingly strange phenomenon coming to an end, the event itself was the least of this young heroine's concern as she realized that although whatever danger the event may have presented was now absent, she couldn't help but worry about her newly-made friend who was more than likely at or near the event's epicenter, and as a result of that, there was no telling what state of danger he could be left in within the event's aftermath.
And, without waiting a moment longer, the up-and-coming student of Beacon Academy wordlessly leapt from her point atop the cliff edge and began heading down towards the flattened clearing near Jaune and his group, and once again using both her weapon and semblance to bring her forward, she was more than capable of making it to this nearby landing point between her and her friend.
Just as she finished soaring past her own group as well as Jaune and co., she finally hit the ground and finished off the landing with a roll, dispersing the energy of the impact, and ended it with a crouch before taking off into a run towards the epicenter of the occurrence without even a glance or word of notice to anyone else; seeing this, the others too went off and followed along in Ruby's wake, some of them in curiosity, some of them in camaraderie for either Ruby or Gabriel, or simply to accompany their teammate/friend(s) as they trailed back once again towards the relic site.
'Hold on, Gabriel! Just please hold on!' Rang the thought of one Ruby Rose, the thought itself seeming to carry her even further and faster with each passing moment that it was left unresolved within her mind.
Nevertheless, this girl carried on and cast away all weariness within her and rushed forth towards the uncertain future and all the risks it may have held, unheeding of any danger that may have lied ahead of her, all for the sake of friendship and all that lied beyond it.
(Several minutes earlier, Point of Interest-Gabriel)(Music Track: Mastodon-The Czar)[A/N: Feel free to listen to this song while you read further on into the chapter, or don't. Your choice, really.]
A roar sounded through the air, followed by a shove by the giant beast's head as it tried to cast off its maddening target from its ivory-white mask, the person in question having attempted to pierce through its unbreakable mask to no avail over the last few moments.
A moment later, the un-winged form of Gabriel bounded through the air, leaping back as he used the inertia from the beast launching him off its mask before he rolled and tucked himself in as he went into a single, simple backflip and landed safely on the ground with a short stagger as he tried to regain his body's sense of balance.
However, Gabriel had no time to further reflect on such sensation as he was forced to promptly leap to the side as he evaded the large form of the Goliath as it narrowly missed him in its attempt to charge him, making him feel like a Matador of Spain or some other bull-taming culture. Though, once he was certain that he was at least able to catch his breath for the moment, Gabriel looked upon the progress of his work he had done in these last couple of minutes since his bout with the Goliath had started and couldn't help but grin from the small measure of pride the sight afforded him.
Where there had once only been the pitch-black armored hide of the Goliath's body, its skin was now marred with numerous, if somewhat shallow, orange-red scorch-lines that ran along the creature's sides, back, and especially along its pillar-like legs; The latter seeming to somehow have remained surprisingly intact despite their otherwise frayed appearance along their edges.
Despite the Grimm's otherwise impressive defenses and stature, because of his nimble size and abilities, Gabriel was able to land numerous strikes against the Grimm over the last few moments due to the mobility afforded to him by his flight and his sheer amount of luck. And, while the strikes he had landed in themselves were otherwise completely successful in their execution, their effectiveness was much less so. Not because the strikes themselves were dampened by whatever resistances the Goliath may have developed over its vast life but because the Grimm's immense size in itself dwarfed the very length and caliber of the attacks the up-and-coming pupil had otherwise been using up until that time; where slashes that would have otherwise left lesser Grimm beheaded now only left what amounted to shallow stabs and slices along the Goliath's body and cleaves that would have sheared Ursa-sized Grimm in half now only seemed to either leave shallow slices that glanced along the creature's skin or resulted in slicing efforts which were tantamount to hacking away at a redwood tree… with a katana; effective, but overall still lacking.
So, while the attacks were indeed working, the progress that each strike made was negligible and it would take repeated, concerted effort in one particular spot to create a mortal injury against this colossal creature. However, such would allow the creature to know where the human's efforts would be concentrated at and it would more than likely act accordingly to counteract the human by either blocking or evading the human's strikes to reach said spot or attempt to lure the human in a seemingly-weak spot only to have him grabbed and thrashed, if not worse, by the Goliath.
Knowing this, rather than play into the Grimm's hands and allow it the opportunity to develop such a plan in the first place, Gabriel decided to go with a more… effective option than just hack away at the grizzled creature's body with just his cherished weapon alone. But first, he'd need a plan to help carry him along his course and as the details of that plan steadily developed within his mind he began figuring out what he was going to need in order to do in order to execute it.
As the Goliath turned around to face him once it realized it had completely missed its target, Gabriel's hands shimmered as lightning briefly shimmered into existence before him and began traveling down towards and along his arms, following their shape as he kept his' arms out in front of him. The flow of lightning slowly began to materialize a familiar object within the man's grasp until a second later Gabriel's enchanted guitar, Jasmine, was once again in Gabriel's deft and able hands, shining in all of its pristine, whitened glory in the brilliant rays of light cast upon it by the sun on what would have otherwise been another unremarkable day of sunshine. And, almost as suddenly as it appeared, the coalescing lightning vanished, its job complete until the next time its summoner called upon it.
Feeling the cold, white-plastic-ivory of his treasured instrument, Gabriel quickly set about placing his hands and fingers at their familiar spots with one hand being at the top of the neck of the guitar, settled along what some would consider the 'starting position' for default guitar playing while the other, right hand hovered lower along the strings of the guitar, ready to pluck the strings at a moment's notice and unleash whatever muscle-memory retained melody he'd decide upon; unconsciously, he could feel the rugged friction of cloth mesh as it rubbed up over his own cloth and armor, reminding him of the additional bit of security that his guitar strap provided in case he'd need to use both of his hands in the future and not worry about dropping said guitar onto the unforgiving ground, or whatever other dangers might ever be waiting down below.
Recalling an old memory, Gabriel's hands went into action, muscle-memory propelling them forward with a speed that only came with practiced ease from hours of rehearsal and familiarity. Allowing himself only the slightest bit of appreciation of the tone of the melody, after several moments of playing, his enchanted guitar solo rang out into the world, summoning forth its otherworldly creation. Then, at the same time, both voice and thought rang out concurrently with but only one thought and command, making itself take form at last: [A/N: Audio segment presented is to be used as reference for what the guitar solo would have sounded like.] (Eric Calderone-Hayley's comet, 0:18-0:26)
"Hayley's comet…" And with that, the attack began to take form.
Once the solo's final note rang out, a large vehicle-sized ball of plasma and electricity formed from above and behind the grounded man below it before wordlessly being sent soaring towards its target-The Goliath.
The great ball of flame soared, gathering more and more intensive heat as it picked up the semi-viable fuel that was the air around it, scorching it with a celestial, molten energy that could only come from the very composition of stars or suns. This process went along for several moments, leaving wavy fumes of wavering energy in its wake, singing the grass and earth below it as it traveled several feet off the ground but close enough to leave its own, passive mark where it went. Then, at last, the attack neared its target before it promptly, and dramatically, impacted against it, silencing everything else in the area with a resounding 'Boom'.
Moments passed and dust, smoke and drifting fumes obscured the sight of anything throughout the area. The only things left in the space being both the sound of flames as they lowly roared from their site of impact, licking away at its unseen target as the white flames of the attack began to cool, turning blue for a few brief moments before dulling down into the standard, orange and red-hued flames associated with any standard flame before those hues too began to dwindle away altogether in the obscurity presented within the large cloud of dust and dirt.
Coughing echoed throughout the silenced area as Gabriel tried to expel whatever gaseous vapors were left in the aftermath of his strike as he wandered through the area. Waving his hand in front of himself to help clear a bit of the dust around him, he began to look around for any detail that would indicate any remains of his large opponent. Although the attack did seem to have reached its target, Gabriel was fairly certain that that attack couldn't have done the Goliath in already and thus kept himself ready to act at a moment's notice in case his instincts were right.
As his gaze flicked side-to-side, something from the peripherals of his vision caught his attention. Turning to face it, through the dust cloud he began to see an eerie, red glow emanate from some unseen source. Though, as he continued to look at it, he soon realized the glow was much closer than he figured, being only several meters before him, and an ominous feeling of forbearance began to creep up on him as the glow suddenly began to rise, raising from five feet, then ten feet before stopping at around thirty to fifty feet above him.
It was then, he knew, that his opponent had most certainly survived.
The dust around him began to clear and more and more of the area became visible. Soon enough, the dust lifted to the point where he could finally fully see the Goliath before him, though no sooner than he realized the source of the peculiar, red glow did it suddenly come down upon him, intent on sending him into oblivion. As soon as he realized the oncoming strike, he promptly pulled out and extended his scythe just in time to block the searing red object with the outward curve of his blade. The two disintegrating forces clashing for but an instant before the Goliath's overwhelming mass and size instantly won out, the sudden strike from the creature causing the lone warrior to recoil visibly from the force of the attack, so much so that it caused him to skid along the ground backwards, maintaining the same, blocking pose until he finally came to a stop some distance away.
Shaking off the trembling effect the Goliath left in his arms after the attack, Gabriel lowered his upward stance which he had since been holding, prepared to retaliate in case the Goliath decided to charge him. But, at the moment, Gabriel took the time to further examine the sudden, new capabilities his enemy had just presented him with, since as the Goliath recovered from the heavy swipe of its head it gave to the hero as it shoved him away, the Goliath looked up and with it, its newly donned feature made itself much more evident now that, for just this one moment before calamity would inevitably begin, it faced its opponent in full.
While much of the Goliath remained the same and much of its body still retained the still-glowing, if fading, scorch-lines of scars Gabriel's strikes had left behind on it, there was the single, new feature that the Goliath now donned. As the red glow of the creature's lone, working eye shined for any and all to see, so too was there another, more prominent glow which further illuminated the mask and face of the Grimm in the now-clearing dust. Where there had once only been large white, prominent tusks that grew out of the black hide that made up the entire Grimm's body, now in the same, curved shape of its previous placeholder was a newer, more deadly incarnation of those same features. In the stead of bare, whitened ivory horns made of what seemed to be a natural, nearly-unbreakable, skeletal-alloy, those same bones now exuded a horrid, red glow, their core being white-hot in intensity. And, for all he knew, this new development might as well have been a physical manifestation of the Grimm's ire towards him, but even he knew that that answer was far from true.
Though, that did beg the question: Where did this new development come from? Or, how could the Goliath have achieved such a feat in the first place? And, truthfully, there was no definitive answer. A cursory explanation for this could have easily been that this was simply just a hereditary, if such a term could be used for the sake of Grimm, defensive/offensive countermeasure, something comparable to that of the Nevermore's feather-launching ability and more or less was something they would inherit and come to master in time, naturally.
Another, more debatable answer was the idea concerning what was perhaps the single most elusive yet widespread subject within, and without, the world of Remnant-Dust. In which it could be theorized that, rather than this ability being naturally inherited through one generation of Grimm and into the next, that this may have, in fact, been a capability granted after extended exposure to varying amounts of essences of Dust, perhaps even the creatures inlaying or storing such elements of dust through some unknown means in the Grimm's, perhaps just the Goliath's in particular, very composition or perhaps through some enigmatic technique this Goliath itself had stumbled upon in its vast existence in the world.
Whatever the case may be, all that Gabriel knew about it at the moment was that it was very angry, very big and on top of that, very, very dangerous because of this new change. And it was these flitting thoughts which were suddenly cast aside to make room for either the much more abstract and reactive instincts of any human or the for more calculative, constructive thoughts which constantly begged for his attention. And as a plan soon began to take form within his head, the latter seemed to become the more prevailing state of mind for him as the moments passed.
Knowing already that he could exploit his opponent's vulnerability to lightning-based attacks, Gabriel had already decided that, amongst his' repertoire of considerably useful skills and talents he had used thus far, he'd have to up the ante a bit in order to create the moment required for him to finally finish off the Goliath once and for all, and he knew just what he wanted to use in order to get it done.
As he once again began to materialize his guitar within his grasp, the electricity from the passive action of doing so catching the attention of the Goliath.
Upon seeing the coalescing energy form near its opponent, the Goliath knew now that the human before him was setting out to unleash another barrage of troublesome, if somewhat incapacitating, combination or permutation of attacks, and both it and its opponent knew of its glaring weakness to large amounts of electricity. And knowing that if it did not act soon, there would be the smallest of chances that its opponent could turn what was an otherwise stagnant stalemate into a battle which could easily turn in the human's favor. So, seeing no other alternative than to act, it charged forth with the intent to both debilitate its enemy whilst also providing the opportunity to create an opening of its own, whether it would be through use of its enormous elephantine limbs, its powerful trunk which it would use to coil and strangle the diminutive creature or through the use of the new disintegrative properties of its tusks, an honor that no other human up until that point had survived long enough to earn. Whatever the case would be, the human would die here and now, or it in itself would die trying to do so, lest the goals of another being greater than even it would surely come to crumble and burn in time at the hands of this unyielding human.
And without any further time left to waste, the Goliath charged towards it human counterpart, shaking the ground in its wake and searing the very air before it, and in doing so causing the warrior to act in turn.
With not very much distance left between the two, Gabriel summoned his wings onto his back and mentally willed them to flap once with great force, swiftly carrying him upwards and backwards as he tried to keep distance between both himself and the oncoming Goliath. Once he was in the air, Gabriel quickly refocused back onto his guitar and went about shredding on the enchanted instrument for several moments as he summoned forth another otherworldly type of projectile to use on his steadily gaining opponent.
Moments passed before Gabriel finally finished off the solo, and none too soon since the Goliath itself had gained over half the remaining distance between them and now stood, or charged, an uncomfortably close distance of twenty to thirty meters from him and closing.
"Sign of Horns." Gabriel uttered as the attack began to take shape above him much like it did with his Hayley's Comet counterpart. (Eddie Van Halen-Eruption, 0:02-0:18)
In the ensuing instance that it took for the attack to take form and begin, what appeared above the enchanted-instrument user was an ethereal-blue hand forming out of nothing, being around the width and height of any standard vehicle (i.e. excluding trucks, vans and the like.) but only half as long. Once it had fully formed and solidified, if you could say such for an ethereal-based construct, the hand curled up in itself to the point where once there had only been a hand, flattened-out and palm-down, now hovered a fist with only its pointer and pinky fingers, creating the infamous 'Sign of Horns' known throughout all rock and metal history.
It was at this moment of observation that, once the attack had formed in full, the 'horned' fist's properties finally became known. Wild and erratic arcs of electric curled and flowed all around and along the faded, blue-ish hand before flowing towards the two extended digits pointing out, where they bounced within some unseen, unspoken field of conduction as if the two fingers themselves acted as lightning rods for the raging currents of electricity.
Once the moment of observation had come and gone, through some unspoken signal by its user, the electrical currents which had previously been flowing freely between the two extended fingers suddenly ceased, if only for a moment, as they, instead, emanated from the forward-most point of each finger and towards the Goliath ahead of them, the hand itself disappearing soon after.
The Goliath, upon seeing this ethereal projection, girded itself in anticipation of its foe's devious offensive action and continued to carry on unperturbedly rather than allow its sense of caution to impede it through either hesitation or deliberation.
And so, the two powerful arcs of electricity carried on through the air unimpeded for what seemed like a timeless eternity, but was in all actuality probably only a single moment of flight, before they ruthlessly connected with its target.
For the first time since the battle had begun, the Goliath had stalled in its approach, left twitching and spasming in place as its body was wracked with rogue signals all throughout its nervous system, or whatever acted as a nervous system for the Grimm. Although, because the Grimm itself was as massive as it was, the resistances allowed by it through both its size, experiences and even simply girding itself in anticipation of its foe's technique, it was able to shirk off a great deal amount of the effectiveness the electrical strike would have otherwise had and even now the effects of the electrical discharge were already beginning to wane as the Goliath's body slowly ceased in its spasming and began to respond to its body's own sense of control with every passing moment.
Though, by this time, Gabriel had already begun to act and without further delay he once again brought the only other weapon that he had that he knew could be used effectively to eliminate the Goliath and, whilst still in a backward-drifting glide, brought out his scythe and floated even higher into the air until he slowed to a stop some distance above the canopy of the forest and began to channel raw, unbridled energy into the weapon.
Waving his hand over the blade of the weapon, he channeled pitch-black, near-translucent, coalescing energy into the weapon whilst his other hand channeled more of this power into the rest of the weapon from its place on the handle, now altering the blade's already extraordinary cutting ability and enhancing it to near-immeasurable proportions, now making it capable of slicing through even the light of stars and the heavens themselves if need be. But, such demands were, as of now, uncalled for as he simply needed to bring down the towering form of the Grimm as it trembled in place far down below him. And at last, the weapon itself had now been fully encased in the shimmering energy of its user.
Once the scythe was fully prepared, Gabriel adjusted his grip on it and moved his right hand to grip the handle above where his left hand was. Once he had a firm grasp of the weapon, he raised the weapon up high into the air above and in front of him, the handle of the weapon now straightening out to be perpendicular to the ground while the blade of the scythe itself stretched and pointed out to Gabriel's left; the sight being reminiscent to that of a scene of someone presenting some item or offering to a higher power or being.
However, if the Goliath itself were to bother, or were capable of, looking up into the sky at that moment, because of the angle at which it itself stood and where the sun was positioned at that moment, the Grimm would have seen the most peculiar sight of a luminous, divine-looking figure holding up a contrastingly ethereal-dark item of seemingly great power, and above those two articles of interest was the sun, now bearing a partial shadow along the upper part of its curve.
For just this moment, at just this angle, the sun now bore… a crescent eclipse.
And a moment later, Gabriel released the grip his left hand had on the weapon and swung Crescent Eclipse until it swayed to a stop behind him, now remaining in a pose not unlike that of a blacksmith preparing to swing their hammer downwards onto an anvil.
And, for a few, sweet seconds of stillness and silence, there was nothing. No tension, no sense of pressure, no chance gust of destiny flowing through the area to create a serene sense of atmosphere. No, there was just peace. Harmony. Asylum.
Then, there was only focus and intrepid resolution as its bearer, in the blink of an eye, plummeted towards what would be the final clash between he and his opponent, one way or another.
At the same time, the Goliath had, at last, shaken off the ebbing effects of its state of paralysis the high-voltage attack the enemy had left it in. Though, no sooner had it regained control of its body was its instinctual sense of danger beginning to blare at full-alarm, alerting it to some cursory, unseen danger around it, though it could already guess what, or rather who, that threat was and already it began to seek it out, starting from where it had last seen the human drifting away moments earlier. As it turned its head to-and-fro in its attempt to catch sight of its illusive adversary, a shadow from its peripheral vision caught its attention, causing it to flicker its gaze briefly down towards the ground unto which the shadow was cast before turning to look upward. What it saw was both surprising yet at the same time not entirely unexpected at all. Since, as it took in the finer details of its air-bound nemesis, it was not the least bit astonished to see the human's use of flight since it had already seen the use of such an ability at the beginning of their brief, minute even, bout some minutes prior. However, it was the new, supplementary property its opponent had added to its weapon of choice that had it unnerved at the moment. While no other human or Faunus had even come close to piercing through its massive, natural defenses that it had developed over its lifetime, this human, despite its expansive repertoire of mystical techniques, had still only done so much more damage against it than anyone else before it, only succeeding in adding a few, new scars to add to its already weathered hide while also being able to survive far longer than any other opponent it had ever encountered up until this point, aside from those who had outright retreated from the large beast but even then some of those poor, desolate souls had not been swift enough to escape the Goliaths wrath at that time. And, as such, it saw no real reason to be too weary of any more of this human's actions, despite the new change of armament he brought forthcoming, and instead chose to simply parry its opponent's actions and attacks as they clashed against its own counteractive defenses, then shunt the human aside like it had effortlessly done before and at the end of it all it would finally deliver to its opponent their long overdue execution.
And so, even as the human grew ever-nearer, the Goliath simply tensed itself in anticipation of once again meeting the advancing charge of the human, this time with its own, laser-like tusks which would either result in a clash of strengths in which it would surely come out victorious or would outright result in the disintegration of the human's seemingly-prized armament followed by the human unwittingly impaling themselves along said aforementioned feature(s) by their own hand; it would, however, at the moment of contact between blood and heated-ivory, disengage its tusk's extraordinary properties in a sadistic change in course, simply planning to leave the human there to suffer at the forefront of its tusk while it would stand there and watch the human slowly bleed out and writhe in agony for as long as possible rather than merely have it broil and turn to ash in mere moments after contact with its tusk's newly-premiered properties. For as patient as it was, it could no longer wait to end this human's existence and with it make this vision of vengeance a reality…
The warrior, however, was oblivious to such ruminations from the Goliath, instead focusing on his own train of thought as he continued forward to execute one of the last legs of his plan-in-motion. For in order to accomplish this next feat he had in mind he still required the use of one other tool within his possession- his Pocket-watch. And, acting on that mental note, he absentmindedly fished out said device and brought it out by his left hand, his right still wielding the scythe behind him. Once it was secured within his grip, Gabriel already began channeling minute residues of his own innate energy into the device, instantly priming it for use once it recognized its handler. As this happened and he was fully certain of the device's readiness, Gabriel, now only a relatively short distance from the Goliath, gave only one utterance as he activated the device:
"Blade of the Crescent Moon." He said to nobody in particular, his voice carrying on into the wind as it echoed minutely as both his voice and he along with it blurred away into an after-effect, then nothing at all.
The Goliath paused, at first because of the sudden disappearance of its opponent as its mind went into overdrive trying to reevaluate every piece of visual information it could recall as it tried to gather any traces of evidence which would lead it to the current whereabouts of the human. However, another reason for the pause suddenly arose, its nature so subtle the Goliath had yet to notice it at first until suddenly tension along certain parts of its body alerted it to some sort of disparate anomaly. At first it was only a sudden tension along the beast's large extremities, subsequently shadowed by a brief feeling of numbness. What followed could only be described as, ironically enough, indescribable sensations of agony, seeming to be primarily focused on only just the Grimm's four limbs; though that small detail would provide no means of comfort for the Goliath.
As the Goliath stumbled forward, its body ungraciously shifting to a significantly lower height as its body fell and 'stood' on nubs which had moments ago been the creature's knees, the remaining two pairs of severed sections that used to serve as the its shins and feet now found themselves wobbling with no sort of weighted tension to keep them pinned to the earth below and simply collapsed haphazardly in their spots beside the beast's settled body. The sensations created by such a dismemberment proving to be too much for even the Goliath to handle as it raised its head from its settled position and cried out futilely in unrestrained torment.
During this whole process, the cloaked warrior appeared at last, shimmering into existence with his scythe extended outwards in front of him, his arm's position already in post-swing as it extended outwards in front of him, the effects of this action already making themselves evident as the Goliath collapsed behind him; unnoticed by either him or the Goliath, a rushing gust of wind swept through the clearing from the Crescent Eclipse's point of impact against the Grimm's limbs, the passive effect of the instantaneous slice left on the air finally taking form as the cascading wind from the attack rushed outwards towards the clearing's edges, coming to a stop once the arcing winds themselves clashed against the sturdy constitution of the trees around them, waning away and leaving the area in stillness once again… until the Goliath's roar shattered that tranquil image.
Wroaoaoaoarrrrhhhh!
As the large Grimm's pained roar rang out across the area, Gabriel once again blurred out of existence, not once turning around to survey the damage his strike left, already knowing full well what effects he'd left behind.
Blurring back into existence an instant later, Gabriel now reappeared just in front of the Goliath, his body already turned in mid-swing as he began to bring the scythe to bear in a full 180 degree arc around his back and to his front where it would clash against the Goliath's nigh-invulnerable array of defenses, whether it was the Goliath's sheer strength, its tusks or its stark-white, nigh-invulnerable mask.
Once the Goliath's cry of anguish tapered off it once again opened its eyes, having closed them for a moment as it tried to deal with the sheer amount of agony it was going through at the moment before it let out that self-admittedly pitiful sound of weakness that was its bellow a moment earlier, only to stare into the encroaching form of its radiant opponent and their unexpectedly dangerous, offensive tool of destruction. With only a cursory glance at the weapon and its opponent and but a moment to act, the Goliath, in an act of unprecedented will and tenacity, further raised itself along its fore legs while it girded its back legs to absorb the impact of the impending clash, the act of doing so further enhancing the pain it felt in those extremities to the point where it became almost crippling, though it still continued to persevere in its actions and carried on unwaveringly. In doing this, the Goliath was able to raise the forefront of its body to the point where it could fully 'stand' up against the oncoming human, where it then was finally able to raise its head, or more specifically, its laser-like tusks, just in time to meet the human's seemingly unstoppable power with its own unmovable form.
And, at the moment of contact between the two uncompromising forces, the very world itself seemed to quake; though, such an effect might have been felt only between the two conflicting powers themselves or at most only in the immediate vicinity of the area.
Power met power, force met force, and this was, at its most abstract and fundamental level, a fully-contained war; two sides, seemingly ever-warring but never relenting in the slightest. The very air, the very atmosphere, around them seemed to vibrate and ripple, a visible testament to the sheer clash of wills going on between the two. And for many seemingly endless moments this act continued, the result still undecided for the moment, neither side looking like they would yield in the slightest within their seemingly frozen states, having remained this way since their moment of contact several, agonizingly-long moments earlier. And for a brief, few seconds it looked like they would forever remain this way, almost like a static, paired version of the battles in the afterlife of Valhalla in Norse mythology.
But then, suddenly, something began to give and an instant later something shattered…
The sound seemed to echo, forever reminding and taunting its owner of their greatest moment of failure right before they would suddenly cease to exist at all. Then, the scattered shards from which the sound originated from drifted into the air, the moment seeming to pass by in slow-motion, frame-by-frame, moment-after-moment. And, as these frames of time continued to carry on into moments, the glow with which the shards were imbued with finally began to dim before returning to the default state of their original composition, color and all. One pair of eyes stared into another pair and for the first time since they had met, one pair of eyes widened visibly in shock and surprise while the other pair hardened, focusing along with the body and mind it was attached to as it carried on the final strike between them.
From the epicenter of the devastation, a glowing red pair of tusks drifted into the air, minute speckles and shards of what was once unshatterable ivory now finding themselves flying up into the air due to the sheer force created from the forceful reaction of being severed from contact with the cleaved ivory that remained at the base of the Goliath's 'tusk socket'. Several moments after being severed, the tusks themselves began to dim in their red glow before it dissipated altogether as it impacted against the ground an instance later, and despite being cut off from its constantly resupply of internal-energy, the residual heat left upon the isolated dead tissue of the ivory was still fairly impressive, so much so that mere contact with the ground moments after separation left both the grass and its soil singed in their spots, creating visible trails of smoke as a result of the basic chemical reaction; though not to the point that it could incidentally create a fire, the reaction happening far too quickly for that to even be a remote possibility.
Flinching back visibly from the sudden turn of events, the Goliath could do nothing more than gawk once it ran out of room to flinch backwards into as time seemed to slow for it at an excruciatingly horrid pace, the Goliath kneeling there while it noted its cursory failure as its tusks flew and fell away, followed shortly by the horrid experience of watching and feeling the human's unyielding weapon continue along its path, getting closer and closer to its body until there was the sudden sensation of further torment as the human effortlessly sliced through its strong, yet still quite vulnerable, trunk which had been raised right alongside the tusks themselves, where it had been primed and ready to either jab or grab the human at the Goliath's command had the Grimm succeeded. But, such thoughts were fleeting as pain further gripped the creature's mind and body at the moment, leaving it distracted and distraught despite all it had promised itself and set out to do.
Gabriel, having already noted his success, not doubting his capabilities for even a moment, continued his body's sense of inertia and continued to twirl himself and his weapon along with him once he had severed the Goliath's three facial features; the second tusk being cleaved much more easily than the first now that its supply of scorching energy had left it in the wake of the first tusk shattering. Once he had nearly carried himself a full 360 degrees, Gabriel altered the horizontal axis' angle of his swing to the point where it could almost be considered perfectly vertical as he brought the scythe back around again to swing downwards onto the Goliath in front him, now that there was nothing in the way of obstructing either his view or his weapon's swing as he brought it forward one last time.
And so, both victim and executioner watched as the blackened scythe's blade continued to descend towards it mark and for a brief, vulnerable moment the Goliath turned to stare at the human, the sudden action causing the recipient to flick their gaze, but not their focus, towards its red-hued counterpart. As their gazes met, no words were said between the two, nothing needed to be said for the Goliath's look alone conveyed an entire array of emotions to their witness: anger, resentment, disappointment, sadness, envy, serenity and finally, yet surprisingly, acceptance, and it was this final emotion which remained the most prominent as the Goliath's final few moments came crashing down upon it, the scythe leading the way.
For what seemed like an eternity, down the scythe went, leaving a dark streak of energy in its immediate wake is it sliced through the air, leaving behind a low-rushing of air as it did so. And so, this went on for the last few moments of its descent until finally, the moment came where the foremost point of the blade encountered something solid once more, its effects immediate.
A sickening crunch filled the area as something solid was either crushed or cracked. Then, a moment later, there was silence in the area once more.
For the second time that day, blackened blood streamed down along the Goliath's face, though in this instance the line was closer to the face's center and a bit higher than it was before.
For this time, the strike had, instead, been concentrated at the mask's, and essentially the Goliath's, forehead; And, despite the much thicker depth which that area carried in general on both the mask as well as the entirety of the skull itself, the scythe carried through without further incident, now laid imbedded within the forehead of the Goliath's face, the creature still kneeling in its spot, now completely and utterly still.
The signature glow which had for so long accompanied the Goliath's deep-red eyes since the beginning of humanity's concepts of time and the Grimm's existence… now began to slowly dim away; The roaring fires that constituted the glow which had up until recently been acting as a visual reminder of the Grimm's growing ire, ever since its first encounter with what would come to be its final opponent, now began to lessen from the creature's eye as its life began to leave it, the glow now receding back to its default, dull, blood-red state.
That same dulling, red eye continued to gaze towards the same, exact sight which had occupied its owner's final thoughts as its consciousness and focus began to lessen. And, as it continued to stare into the darkened veil that hid its opponent's features from it, what laid within that very same darkness that it stared into also stared back at it as well.
And with a final look of acceptance of its fate within that single pool of red, the last vestiges of both its vibrant, red hue along with its final bits of life faded away entirely, forever.
The Goliath, one of the greatest examples of any Grimm that had ever been created, and despite all possibility and numerous cases to the contrary, had at last fallen at the hands of a mortal, a human. This brief yet decisive skirmish between these two powers serving as both a reminder and as a testament to any and all that any Grimm-no matter how powerful-was as fallible and vulnerable as any other being, unable to escape the cold grip of death; That despite what its longevity and grand expanse of experiences granted it, at the end of it all it too could no longer escape its inevitable fate. Now, between these two clashing powers, only one still remained standing, still endured…
As the life drained from the Goliath its body grew less and less responsive and its involuntary bodily movements, whether it was its trembling as it sat in silent torment or subtle movements made by simply trying to stay upright, too began to lessen. Then, almost without perception, its movements had ceased entirely and with its body being nothing but an empty shell, it slackened in place.
Observing the subtle cessation as it took its course, as Gabriel felt the creature's weight succumb to the ever-present pull of gravity and it began to drag both him and his weapon down with it he leaned back to resist the force is tried to drag him down with it and with a quick pull he brought the blade of his scythe out of the Grimm's skull, the dark energy imbued in it ebbing away and returning the weapon back to its original, searing-white glow.
Now that the battle was over and he could relax, Gabriel unconsciously allowed his glowing sets of wings to dematerialize, allowing him to drop the last few feet remaining between him and the ground with a soft thud. Just as he had done that, the Goliath's husk finally crumbled to the ground in in an ungraceful heap, the ground reverberating lowly as this happened, nearly jolting Gabriel from his spot right in front of it. Though, just before Gabriel could do anything else, the Goliath seemed to decide to present to him one last brief spectacle to signify its final departure and its ultimate downfall.
In a majestic, last display of beauty, that despite being such a common occurrence to anyone who had fought Grimm or had seen them expire, no matter how inconsequential or grand those creatures may have been in their time, the Goliath began to fizzle and drift away into blackened dust. As the process continued on, despite the Grimm's exceedingly great size, the rate of degeneration for the Grimm's body seemed to match the usual rate in which a Grimm would usually cease to exist altogether. Thus, given several long moments or a minute's time, the Goliath would soon disappear from the face of the world altogether.
As the blade of the scythe returned back into the slot from which it came, Gabriel rested the body of the weapon over one shoulder with his' right hand, gripping the base of its length to keep it from falling as he let the moment of idleness wash over him while his stature visibly sagged in fatigue as the events of the day finally started to catch up with him. Though, as Gabriel stood there and took in the sight of the broiling and drifting form of the cloud of darkness that once served as the body of the Goliath, he wondered that despite the fact that neither this Grimm nor any other had any trace of a soul or sense of reason, he couldn't help but admire the confidence to which the Goliath carried itself with and the strength and tenacity it had shown, even in its last moments of desperation. So, despite whatever anyone else would have done at this moment of victory, whether it was cheering, silent exuberance at a hard-fought battle or other like-minded activities of excitement, Gabriel was among those with the mindset who could at least admire and come to respect the strength and extent to which their enemies fought with and as such sought fit to give it this one brief, deserving moment of silence before he said his final piece to one of the toughest adversaries he had come across so far.
"…Is this all it ever comes down to? Through the course of all this time that we've known each other, was this conflict what you really wanted to carry out? Was all that you committed here really done under your own rule in that the same, baser instincts that may have once dominated your thoughts at a lesser, far more infantile part of your existence were allowed to take reign over you now, a view which most people would have me believe, or was there something else to it? Was the soul that I carry with my own really so alluring to your kind that you really couldn't help but be drawn back to it, despite the brief crossing to which we were introduced? Was it any of that or was it madness that drove you to me, the one who would be bound to carry out your terminal fate? I don't know, but now, neither will you…"
All the while as he spoke, more and more of the dissolving fog that now made up the Grimm's body continued to reduce its body to the char that may have once created it to the point that the body began to visibly recede upon itself towards the center of its body, where it would more than likely reach a singular point before dissipating altogether in an otherwise uneventful fizzle of air. And it was the beginning of this developing sight and this series of musings where Gabriel turned towards the objective which he had, up until this point, been neglecting to investigate and thus began the long trek there.
Though, he had gotten no further than just past the Goliath's crumbling body before the peripheral sense of… something caught his attention. The exact nature of whatever it was that called for his attention eluded him for the moment and as he haltered in his step so too did whatever it was that had called out to him. And, just before he could leave, it took him a moment to realize what exactly the nature of this call had been and it was this sudden realization that left him both petrified as well as terrified.
For as he began to leave, the sound which had carried itself along the undercurrent of the passing wind and into his ear was not a grumble, not a groan… but a voice-A confident, matured and distinctly feminine voice, one which he was sure he had never come across in all his time here in the world of Remnant. And thus, understanding this, the reality of the situation had him on edge and he suddenly found himself asking this question:
'Why is there a woman's voice calling out to me… and why is it coming from somewhere I know it shouldn't be coming from?'
After a momentary pause, Gabriel steadily turned his body to the right, back towards the direction where the voice seemed to come from, where he encountered both a relatively familiar yet entirely different sight altogether from the one he had just left behind.
In the wake of a dissolving cloud of black ash that marked the final resting place of the Goliath, a small, twirling vortex had developed within the blackened haze, all the while surrounding an even darker, man-sized entity which held no definitive features as to ascertain its identity as either human or something similar. And yet, despite its rather ambiguous appearance, there was one last detail that could be gleamed from it through the shadowed haze around it that identified it as something at least akin to human.
As he turned in full to face the newly-arisen specter and eyed its darkened constitution so too did it, did she, gaze back at him with pitch-black eyes, distinguishing themselves from the rest of the figure's body by their blazing red irises. And then, those very same eyes seemed to crinkle, which as he continued to peer at them suddenly made him realize that the figure was now smiling at him.
"And so, we meet at last, dear traveler."
A/N: And there you have it, months of rehashing, rewriting and reconfiguring finished at last into a final, finished product. I hope you all enjoyed it and I sincerely hope you all stick around for the next update which will answer all, or at least most, of the unanswered questions presented throughout the story so far and perhaps indicate where this story will be going from there. The next chapter should only be just a wrap-up so it shouldn't take as long as this chapter to post; though I won't promise anything for or against that point. Thank you all for your continued investment into the story and I appreciate each and every one of you for taking an interest in the story, you guys/gals are what make this story worth writing, along with just the simple idea of creating a certain take on a story.
Until next time, this is The Brutal Legend, logging off and signing out. ;)