"Hurry..." Ruby zipped down the hill in her air scooter. The rest of her team followed close by. They all saw the airship went down...and before that, the weird grimm attack.
"I don't understand.." Blake zipped through a few trees while swinging from her metal ribbon. "We were all watching the airship coming in and then the other airship appeared out of nowhere. "
Weiss caught up on her ice slope. Suddenly, she skid to a stop and held up her hand. "Wait!"
"What?" Yang landed a few feet from Weiss and extinguished her flames.
Weiss burrowed her brows and conjured an ice sword. "The energy isn't right here. Ruby, for spirits' sake, stop."
"I am sure we can handle it. They might be real hurt and possibly dying." Ruby zipped ahead without looking back.
Mako walked slowly, while been supported by Ami and Minako. She looked up at the long track ahead and felt a sense of unease.
"What's wrong?" Ami looked at Mako with concern. "Is it hurting?"
"No, I just ...never mind." Mako shook her head. Perhaps the loss of blood earlier was making her imagine things, or been paranoid.
Minako stopped and looked around. They were at the edge of a dense forest, one they would have to pass through in order to get to the school. "Guys, I am not much of a spiritual type but even I can feel something weird. Mako, is that why you stopped?"
"Does anyone have a spare map on them by any chance?" Ami offered a solution. "Perhaps, there is another way around. With Mako hurt, I don't want to run into any more surprises."
Minako shook her head grimly. "No, the map went down with the airship. We could try to walk around that mountain over there, but that would add at least another few hours of walking. I really think we need to get Mako to a real doctor soon though..."
"Guess there's no choice but to go through. Maybe the forest used to be a spiritual spot and maybe that's what I felt." Mako walked up to a tree and placed her palm on it. She closed her eyes. Then she quickly withdrew her hand like it touched fire.
"What are you doing?" Ami inquired.
"Look, I don't know how to explain this. The heighten ability to contact the spiritual world had always been an airbender specialty. I once saw my mom do it. I've tried after I got my powers back, but I couldn't. Now..." Mako looked down at her palms. "I can hear the trees whispering."
"And what are they saying?" Minako took a tentative step towards the forest.
Mako shook her head. "It's not exact words I am hearing. Just...I don't know. Let's just keep going. If we need to fight, we will fight. We did just take out a whole bunch of grimm. I am feeling my powers returning again, we'll be fine."
Minako nodded. "Then, let's go. Let's get through this quickly." She walked over and put a supporting arm around the injured Mako.
Emerald was already in position before the girls even get there. Bored of waiting, she checked her scroll again. Cinder had remained radio silent since their last communication.
"Hey, what are you up to?" She typed to Mercury.
"Fed my firebird. She did not appreciate my cooking. She shall go hungry."
"Firebird?" Emerald typed back.
"Hey aren't you suppose to be on a mission? Don' fail. Cinder and I will be there shortly."
"I never fail." Emerald pocketed the scroll as she sensed a shift in the forest's energy. She sneered as she settled down into her lotus position. She closed her eyes and started to chant silently. A dark swirl of energy started to appear in front of her before dispersing all over the forest.
"What's this?" Yang looked up at the darkening sky. "Blake?"
Blake's weapon was drawn and she was in attack mode already. Her cat ears twitched. "Enemy approaching. I am hearing three grimm."
Mako clenched her fists and steady herself. "Get ready. I am sensing four grimm. They are powerful..." Instinctively, she stepped in front of Ami. "Stay close."
"Let's do this." Minako swung the chain over her head and then sent it out.
"Look out." Ruby sent out a blast of air and knocked the chain away from its intended target. "Oh my gosh, this grimm knows how to bend metal."
"hmm." Blake hurled up a stone and blocked more sharpened metal flying their way. "Amateur. I'll take care of the metal one."
Yang pumped her fists and fire shots out of her hands. One of the grimm jumped ahead of the other beast and took the hit. "Wait, what? Now they are protecting each other?"
"No one to protect you now, huh?" Weiss raised her ice sword and ran toward the weaker one.
"Mako!" Ami yelled as the fireball hit Mako. She whirled her head around and stared at the fire grimm. Smoke pillowed out of its grotesque mouth and its eyes glowed red.
The ice grim started to advance, with its sword raised.
"Watch out, Ami..." Minako was battling with the metal and the air grimm. She was pinned down at the moment.
In that instant, Ami felt a rush of power. Similar to what she felt when she first used water bending. That familiar cool rush and her blood pumping fiercely through...She could sense water flowing through the massive forest, inside the plants...
Ami let go of the injured Mako and stood up. She waved her arms in a circular motion and in a instant she drew water out of the nearby plants. "Lend me your power, water." Ami said silently as she raised her hand toward the sky. A wide blade ice sword appeared.
"Holy shit..." Weiss's blade clashed with the grimm's sword. She stared at the beast, wide eyed. That was not a rudimentary move. That was master level water bending...
"Weiss..." Yang sent out more fireballs and melted the grim's sword. Weiss flew backwards as the grim punched out knife sharp icicles. "Ow.." A few grazed Weiss's calf as she landed. "You son of a..."
The grimm groaned in pain as the icicles grazed its leg. Ami stared at it with steel resolve. "You and your friend will pay."
She glanced back and saw that Mako was regaining consciousness. "Mako, talk to me. Can you stand?" Ami said as she continue to fight the two monsters.
"Ami..." Mako looked back in surprise. Then she glanced around at the dead trees in the forest. Mako grunted and pushed herself off the ground.
Ami continued to fight off the advances of the two grimm and as her confidence grew, so did her power. She would no longer be weak. She would protect Mako, just like how Mako protected her.