RWBY: Revenant
By Endbeats
Chapter 36: Before – The Battle for Dandelion
The first one to attack was, of course, Sagitari, followed by Sagino. Like a rocket, the two sprinted in opposite directions towards the encircling grimm. Before the rest even moved, Sagitari had already slammed an uppercut into a beowolf's chin, while Sagino swung his massive sword through five separate grimm. Then, the rest of the crew caught up: Ursus stomped his foot onto the ground, practically causing an earthquake as the ground under the outer perimeter of the grimm lifted up and launched the creatures into the air. This gave Kang an opening, and he reacted by lifting his sword into the air and summoning lightning to destroy the helpless grimm. Orphiucha had already charged forward, dancing between the numbers of grimm as she wacked them with her dust-enhanced batons. Cam, too, fought on the offense, using a plethora of weapons and explosives that he seemed to magically pull of out thin air. Just after stabbing a lancer with a knife, he then threw a grenade behind his back, which obliterated a group of seven grimm.
Liu, not willing to give up like he used to, injected his scarf with his semblance and ran towards a particularly distracted wolf-like grimm. Inspired with the chance to test it out, Liu summoned the semblance in his scarf, then shot it forward with the hopes of grabbing the grimm's neck. Thnking upon Cam's words, he tried to curve the end of the scarf just before it touched the monster, whose attention slowly found its way towards Liu. It felt like slow motion to him, but Liu couldn't help but grin as he saw the scarf curve around, moving across the top of the beast's neck. Finally, the scarf found itself drapped across the grimm's neck.
Yet, the scarf did not wrap around its prey. It merely laid on its back.
Liu, not realizing he would get this far, started to panic when he saw the grimm merely brush the metallic scarf off itself. Finished with watching, the monster then made a mad dash for Liu. At first, the kid trembled like before. He felt as if he returned to his old self, who lived in fear and regret. But Liu was not that person anymore.
Seeing danger coming towards him, he unconsciously pulled his scarf back, which automatically wrapped itself around his arm. He then ran up to meet the beowolf, who leapt forward with a predictable diagonal lunge. Liu ducked under the claws, feeling the breeze of the wind the came from the strength of the monster's arm, then came up with his own upwards slash across the beast's belly. Finally, Liu stabbed his sword down, directly into the monsters chest. The beowolf grimm had a small look of terror before disintegrating.
"My first… grimm," Liu panted. What a strange feeling, killing a grimm on his own. He couldn't sort through the emotions.
And he literally couldn't, as another beowolf grimm pulled itself towards Liu.
Using gymnastic moves he learned from Orphiucha, Liu jumped over the attack from the grimm and brought his sword down onto the top of its head. Another one, disintegrated just like that. The fluidity of his movements and his success in fighting so far inspired him and he couldn't help but smile.
Unable to contain the pride he was feeling, he turned towards the others to brag. "I just killed two grimm!" he yelled over the sounds of carnage.
"That's great, Liu," Ursus mindlessly muttered as he stabbed his spear through five grimm.
"I'm on number fifteen," Orphiucha spoke back. She continued to take more down, wrapping her legs around the neck of a giant ursa as she whacked its head with her batons until it finally started to disintegrate.
Sagitari didn't respond, but Liu's pride vanquished when he saw her practically killing a grimm each second.
"Keep aware of your surroundings, Liu!" Kang yelled. He was shocking dozens of lancers with his semblance each second.
"I guess I've still got some more training to do," Liu murmured to himself. He then found himself forcefully thrown back into battle when a grimm lunged for him. Unprepared, he instead utilized his semblance-infused scarf and backhanded the charging beast. The scarf successfully made contact and the grimm went flying from the impact while Liu's own arm went in the opposite direction. Thankfully, his training this past week kept his semblance from returning back into his body, and his scarf remained enhanced, though the usual pins-and-needles feeling in his arm occurred as a result of the attack.
He couldn't rest, though, because three more grimm caught their sights on him. It made Liu sigh.
"Guess I can't get a moment's peace, can I?"
Terrace was positive. With the grimm running down the street towards the town center and the figures he saw jumping out from the airship, he knew hunters or huntresses had arrived. Seems his prayers had been answered. He stood up and grabbed a box of matches he hadn't used yet for fear of being found. However, that was exactly what he wanted now.
The man limped as fast as he could towards the fireplace, opened the vent, and, after a few swipes, got a match to light. Terrace crumbled up a few pages of his journal with his other hand, then touched the vulnerable paper with his small match. As expected, the paper lit and once it was large enough, the man threw it into the fireplace, where a few dusty logs lay.
Finished, he sat down at his usual seat, though he pulled a gun out of his desk drawer. This plan was a gambit where everything was at stake. Either the hunters find him, or the grimm do. It was a gamble no one would dare take, especially considering Terrace had never been a betting man his entire life.
Well, better late than never, he supposed.
The grimm numbers had finally started to subside. By this time, however, Liu had only killed around ten of them. Everyone else had probably killed fifty each. It made him a little depressed, but he knew he still had a long way to go.
"Alright, listen up," Liu's father said as he slashed through a grimm, "We're going to start splitting up. Remember, Sagino will be with Ursus and Liu while Cam will be with Sagitari and Orphiucha. Any questions?"
No one responded.
"Good. Now let's-"
"Hey, general! Check out that!" Sagino yelled, pointing at a cloud of smoke in the nearby distance.
The atmosphere suddenly became far tenser. There was a live civilian still in the town. This became less a hunting mission and more a rescue one. One false move, and someone innocent would die.
"Here's the new-"
At the worst possible time, the ground shook heavily and the group struggled to stay balanced. In that moment, all of the grimm had a moment of inspiration so intense, they were practically dancing.
No, they were worshiping something.
"What's going on?" Liu muttered.
Suddenly, a scorpion tail came through the ground under Ursus. Luckily, the boy wasn't stabbed, but the tail extended so quickly, he had no chance to get away. Ursus helplessly held onto the strange tail from the ground as it flipped around and around. It flailed around harder and harder, trying desperately to shake off the boy as he tried to desperately hold on.
"Hold on, Ursus!" Sagitari yelled while sprinting towards him.
"I'm… trying," his voice responded back. Both his hands were fiercely latched onto the bulbous end of the tail. Even as the tail slammed onto the ground, Ursus still held on. He couldn't let go.
Then, his left hand slipped.
The thing, feeling this, gave one more swing of its tail, and the boy made a worrisome face as his arms lost its grip. Like that, Ursus was launched at an incredible distance, even over a few building roofs. His silhouette kept shrinking at an alarming rate.
"Ursus!" Liu yelled. But his voice was too late; the boy was gone. There was no time to worry, either, as the ground shook once more and the owner of the tail finally broke out from the ground: It was a scorpion grimm, of course. A giant one, at that. The thing spun around towards the group and snapped its claws in anticipation. It was ready to kill.
"Sagitari. Get Ursus and then go save that civilian," Kang calmly spoke, still focusing his attention on controlling lightning, "Sagino, go behind her. Cam, can you take on this scorpion with Liu and Orphiucha?"
"It'll be tough," Cam spoke while stabbing a set of daggers into a bear grimm until it disintegrated. "I think we can do it, though."
"Sir, shouldn't I stay and fight?" Sagitari asked.
"No. You're the strongest fighter of the team, so I'll be fine with you leaving here. I can't say the same for the others. Now go!"
Sagitari hesitated after looking at her teammates, but nodded. She then activated her semblance, increasing the muscle mass of her body and sprinted down the street towards the scorpion. The scorpion tried to attack her, but she was far too fast and managed to use its head as a platform for leaping. Afterwards, it slammed its claws into the ground in rage.
"What a girl!" Sagino laughed. He followed right behind her, using his sword as a vaulting pole in order to jump over the scorpion. Again, the beast tried to attack the man, but he moved just out of its grasp, infuriating the monster even more.
"Liu? Orphiucha? How are you feeling?" Kang asked. His focus on taking out the flying grimm made it impossible for him to join to fight. Liu and Orphiucha, then, stood behind his back, weapons aimed at the giant grimm while the smaller numbers danced around it. Cam came around and walked between the two.
"I'm… a little worried," Liu admitted, "But as long as I'm with Orph, we can't lose! That's the Team SOUL way!"
Orphiucha nodded. "You got that right! As long as I'm here, we're gonna win."
That last sentence made Liu smile. She was back to normal.
"Eyes forward," Cam interrupted, "The beast is coming!"
Ursus tried to rattle his brain after getting his bearings back. Luckily, he had managed to keep himself from getting hurt too much, but it was far from a perfect landing. He crashed into the side of a clock tower and used his aura from taking mortal damage, but it wasn't enough. When he landed on the ground, he could feel a burning sensation in his ribs, as well as numbness in his shoulder. It was dislocated.
He slammed his shoulder back into place on the side of a building, gritting his teeth through the pain. With that done, he looked down both sides of the road. One path led towards a few destroyed houses while the other led towards a few bent street lamps. It was crazy, he thought, how much of a ghost town this place had become. Though, getting attacked by grimm would do that. There were crushed houses and trashed streets, yes, but it was far from indecipherable. It still looked like a town. It only went to show how a grimm's hatred was exclusively towards people, not what was created by them.
"Speak of the Devil," Ursus muttered. Grimm came from both sides of the street and, catching a whiff of his smell, clamored towards where the kid was standing. He pulled his spear out from the ground and looked around. There had to be thirty grimm, all of whom were of the beo-wolf breed. Perhaps they were from the same pack, but it didn't matter. Ursus was not in the condition to battle this many. He held onto his spear and started pulling out the blade connected by the chain. If he could take them out from long-distance, he could win.
The fastest of the group came close. Ursus jumped backwards and threw his spear's shaft down. The chain followed and the immensely heavy blade went through the monsters head and forced it to disappear into dust.
Another came forward. Ursus touched the ground, activating his semblance and shooting it into the air. He then sent his blade barreling in the air and watched as it went through the grimm's chest. Another one, disintegrated.
Ursus turned around, catching another one before it got too close. He brought his spear back around, letting the chain sweep the legs of the grimm. He finally swung his spear's shaft up, then brought it down. The giant blade at the end came down and implanted itself into the beo-wolf's back. Just more dust floating in the wind.
Ursus turned around, bringing his shaft back in preparation for the fourth one.
The fourth one was right in front of him.
Ursus tried to jump backwards, but the grimm was too fast and used its enormous claws to slash his chest. Ursus yelled in pain, and the wound alongside his rib and shoulder damages forced him to fall onto his knees. He gripped his chest, feeling the blood trickle down his fingers. It wasn't deep, though that just meant the grimm wanted to play around before actually killing Ursus. The demented smile on the beo-wolf seemed to prove this.
Ursus slumped his head down. So this was the end, he thought. Strange. He thought he'd be in total fear when he died. Instead, it just felt like he lost any sense of hope. Some would say this feeling was worse, though. Perhaps this was a better fate for him, he thought. After all, he became a hunter to make friends, not to help people. Perhaps this was punishment for his selfishness. Ursus closed his eyes. He was ready to accept this.
Accept? As if, his mind suddenly thought. His thoughts went to Sagitari. To Orphiucha. To Liu. No, he had people he wanted to help. He had friends. Why would he die before paying them back for all they had done for him? Ursus opened his eyes and looked back up with a newfound fury. The grimm was in motion to swipe his face at the same time. It would be a deeper wound that would truly deal mortal damage to Ursus.
Ursus grabbed the grimm's claw with one hand and stopped it.
A few days prior…
"C'mon, Ursus? Can't you do more than that?" Sagino taunted. Ursus tried, yet again, to attack from a distance. The giant kid released his chain then launched it forward. He was enacting a new plan.
And yet again, Sagino wrapped the chain around his own hulking sword and pulled the spear out of the kid's hand.
Ursus tried to use his semblance after losing his grip, but Sagino was far too quick. The bodyguard dashed forward before Ursus even touched the ground and kicked him in the gut. Ursus was practically sent flying by the impact and landed a good twenty feet away on his back.
"That's the fifth time you've tried to attack me like that. Can't you use anything other than your chain or your semblance? It's a spear!"
Ursus coughed and sat back up. "I… can't."
"You can't? Yeah, right!"
Ursus frowned. "I'm serious!"
Sagino tilted his head in confusion, then sat down beside him. "Okay. Tell me what's bugging you about it, kid. Why do you always try to use your chain to fight rather than the actual spear?"
He was a bit worried to share it, but didn't want to end up like Sagitari or Orphiucha. After facing his past a few weeks ago, he felt it was okay to share. "When I fight with my fists… things happen. It's like I go wild."
Sagino laughed. "You? Wild? You're milder than anything else!"
"I'm serious, sir! I… A few years ago at my old school, there was a kid named Jazz. He tricked me and tried to use me to get what he wanted, and when he found out that I wasn't as useful as he hoped, he tried to beat me up. At that moment… I snapped. I took out the kid's entire gang with my fists. After what happened, I became resolved to avoid any sort of close confrontation in fear that I may snap again."
Ursus expected Sagino to laugh or pick on him yet again. He expected Sagino to tell him to "man up, or shut up," then force him back into training. Instead, Ursus felt a pat on his shoulder, which felt a little awkward.
"I know all too well that sort of rage," Sagino calmly, and uncharacteristically, spoke, "I know how emotion can be a curse. How it can control you. Truly.
"When I was your age, I too had that issue. I was the one who got my team in trouble because I never took the reins of my thoughts. I fought anyone who would do so much as give a bad look to me or my team. It surprises still how patient Cam and Kang were with me."
"So, what did you do about it?" Ursus asked.
Sagino shook his head. "Ursus, you need to look at it from a different perspective. That rage, it's not evil. It's not a curse. No, it's up to you how you use it. What did I do about it, you ask? I used it to protect my friends instead. Heck, I still use it to this day. Sure, I may go a little overboard, but it has helped others far more than harmed them."
"I need to use it to protect my friends?"
"In the end, it's up to you how to use it. But, Ursus, you'd do well to remember how important your friends are. Are they so important that you use this rage? That's for you to decide."
Ursus nodded. "I'll think about it."
"Good. Now, let's get back to sparring!" Sagino yelled as he slammed his sword down on Ursus, who managed to just barely escape the attack.
Ursus felt the same rage he felt when Jazz had betrayed him all those years back. He felt those intense emotions flow through his body. Yet, it was different. This bloodlust had an aim. He wanted the blood of those who would harm Team SOUL. Ursus stood back up and grinned as the grimm tried viciously to get out of the hunter's grip.
Then, Ursus let out a strong punch. One that rivaled the strongest of Sagitari's enhanced strikes. As a result, the grimm shot past its friends and landed a good distance away before disintegrating.
Ursus smiled. He never felt something like this before. All this emotion he kept bottled up for such a long time came out at once, and all he felt was rage and bloodlust. Yet, he still had the reins. He still had control. It was so odd, but it didn't stop him from welcoming the feelings. Instead, he focused it all on these grimm. For if one survived, Sagitari, Orphiucha, and Liu would run a higher risk of dying.
Recharged, Ursus let out a battlecry that stunned the grimm around him. He took this as his chance. Before any of them tried to attack, the hunter already grabbed one of them by the legs and swung the grimm around. After hitting a lamp with the helpless monster, he threw it into the others.
Finally, the mob started attacking. Ursus grabbed his spear from the ground and jumped in the air. Focusing on one grimm, he threw the spear at the ground, impaling the selected grimm, then landed on another. He threw a plethora of punches at those around him, and the grimm, perhaps too stunned to respond, took the hits. Some even disintegrated from the force he output. Afterwards, he pulled his spear back out of the ground, and swung it around. Those unfortunate monsters that stood close towards him were helplessly turned into dust as the spear's blade slashed and stabbed through them. The ones that stood further away were questioning whether or not they should charge forward or run away.
Too bad Ursus would take no survivors.
Finished toying with his spear, Ursus dashed toward another group of beo-wolves and started doing the same thing. He even took a few hits in return, but his emotional state numbed any sort of pain he felt. He would even take a slash across his face, but instead slam his fist into the attacking grimm's gut before cutting through it with his spear. Another tried to do the same thing, but Ursus was faster and grabbed the claw with his open hand. This grimm tried to escape his grip like the first one, but Ursus was far too strong to let it leave. Not willing to let their kin die, another five grimm came forward to bring aid. Ursus grinned and clinched his fist even harder before throwing the beo-wolf he was holding over his head and into the approaching beasts. With the set of grimm still fazed, Ursus jumped in the air and brought his spear down on the pile. The entire spear went through six of them before touching the concrete ground, and in an instant, those final few grimm disintegrated.
Well, all except for one.
Ursus turned towards the last grimm, a single beo-wolf who stood just ten feet away. It was practically shaking with fear.
"Strange," Ursus spoke to the thing even though he knew it didn't understand language, "I didn't know grimm could feel fear. Guess you learn something new every day."
"What I want to know," he continued, "Is do grimm feel pain?"
Ursus jolted forward, faster than the grimm could react, and grabbed it by its neck. The thing struggled and even tried to strike at him, but Ursus used his other hand to keep from getting hurt. The red eyes looked directly at Ursus in hatred, but it could not utilize its anger. Not like Ursus.
Finally, Ursus clinched his fist with a force strong enough to destroy the grimm's throat. Unable to breath, the beast began its short dust transformation, and the wind released it from Ursus' grip.
Being the last one remaining, Ursus laughed. He felt so… happy. Like the deed he had done ensured that his friends would live longer. It was so weird facing this part of him, but it truly was for the better. Thankfully, it was temporary also. Ursus stopped laughing and moved towards a building. He put his back against a wall and sat down, letting the emotions run their course while the pain from the wounds he sustained grew. Soon, he felt calmer, meeker, and most importantly, more in pain.
"Ursus?!" a familiar voice yelled. He turned around to find Sagitari running towards him alongside Sagino.
"Hey, guys," he weakly spoke.
Sagitari finally came to his side and bent down. "You're hurt! Sit down while I bandage you up."
"No," Ursus gritted as he tried to get up from his position, "We don't have time. We need to get to that fire!."
"We can worry about that later," Sagitari said.
"But-"
"Ursus," Sagino's broad voice spoke, "If we don't fix you, then we can't save the civilian."
With two voices again him, Ursus consented and sat back down. His team leader then pulled out a medical kit and started disinfecting and wrapping the slashes and wounds he had received.
"Sagino," Ursus breathed out, "I understand."
"What do you mean?"
"I learned how strong emotion can be."
Sagino loudly laughed. "Ah. Seems you've found out how to channel it for them."
Sagitari tilted her head. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Nothing," both of them responded.
Orphiucha did a back flip as another strike from the scorpion tail came forward. An ursa came upon her new position, but was quickly stopped by a throwing javelin from Cam. Cam then pulled another set of explosives from out of thin air and threw them at the scorpion. The hit was successful, but the armor of the scorpion was far too strong to break from some simple grenades. Orphiucha tried to throw some energy waves from her batons, but again the scorpion's shell had no difficulty blocking the attacks.
"Liu!" Cam's voice reverberated, shaking the kid out of his bewilderment, "What are you doing?!"
Liu had found himself mesmerized by the way the pair was fighting. They both moved with such speed and grace as if they were partaking in a waltz. No smaller grimm even touched them despite the fact they were focusing their efforts on the strongest monster there. Thankfully, the voice got his attention in time, and Liu managed to get out of the way of an attacking beo-wolf. Doing a flip of his own, which lacked the same grace as the others, he got out of range then came back with his own slash. The grimm managed to use its claws to clash with the sword, but this gave Liu the chance to test out his scarf once more. He brought the thing to life and slowly moved it forward in the grimm's blind spot. Liu was amazed when he found the scarf encircle the grimm's torso bit by bit, but it was far too slow. Before Liu even managed to command it to tighten, the beast's patience wore thin and used its superhuman strength to shove Liu a few feet back and force him on his knee. The scarf followed and instead chose to lifelessly flop on the ground.
"C'mon," he muttered, trying to animate it once more and pull it back. However, the beo-wolf moved faster and stomped its foot on top of the metallic cloth.
"Can't you stand somewhere else?" Liu groaned. The grimm smiled back despite not knowing language, perhaps due to pleasure of coming out on top. Then, it hit Liu. He had yet to figure out the strength of his scarf. Why not now?
"Well, if you want to be like that, it's fine by me!" Liu then shot his semblance into the scarf once more, intentionally moving it like how he did when he first got it from Sagitari. As expected, the thing flipped around like crazy, starting from Liu's hand and moving down to the end of the scarf.
What was unexpected, though, was the velocity at which the grimm was launched. Or rather, the fact that it launched at all.
The beast refused to move when it saw the scarf come to life, and that was its undoing. When the thrashing had reached the end that wasn't in contact with Liu, the grimm shot into the air at a speed rivaling how fast the scorpion sent Ursus. He quickly shot off his semblance and wrapped his scarf around his arm once it stopped moving, but Liu kept his eyes on the beast. The beo-wolf, which had a familiar silhouette, became smaller and smaller until it finally crashed into the brick roof of a building in the distance. The sight made Liu nervously chuckle.
Seemed he had a lot more to uncover about his power.
"Liu!" Cam said again, "Can you help us out?"
Liu turned around and ran towards the others, who stood on the other side of the scorpion. "Y-yeah!"
An ursa tried to get between Liu and the others, but Liu slid under its legs and slashed at its heels to keep it from following. Next was the scorpion. With its back turned, he planned on stabbing it while it was distracted. Its tail and claws were focused on Orphiucha and Cam, who dodged and slid around with little difficulty. Thus, the back would be no problem. Liu ran faster and faster, sword held in both hands for stability. All fear was pushed away and all that was left was resolve. Liu pulled his sword back once he reached twenty feet away. Nineteen. Eighteen. Seventeen. Si-
Without even turning, the scorpion grimm swung its tail backwards and slammed it into Liu's side. It missed with its stinger, but managed to force the kid off his feet and into the ground. As for Liu, he felt no pain when it occurred. In fact, he didn't even process what happened. He just found himself on the concrete the next moment. He felt a strange liquid sensation on his forehead, but couldn't lift his left arm to feel it for some reason. In fact, he couldn't even feel his left arm.
Despite being in a haze, he knew what that meant. Panic filled his brain and he started hyperventilating. After all, it was the first time it had ever happened.
His left arm was broken.
Sagitari, Ursus, and Sagino made it to the source of the fire before any grimm had arrived. A small, brick house at the corner of the town was release smoke from its fireplace.
"This is the worst time to start a fire," Ursus muttered.
Sagino quickly shushed the kid, then signaled for the others to follow silently. The three tip-toed through the street in the emergency that a grimm was in their immediate vicinity. Fighting could be heard from a distance, but nearby it seemed like grimm had all disappeared. They must be safe.
Sagino sighed. "Alright, let's-"
Immediately, a grimm came from the shadows of a nearby arch and lunged for Sagino. Before he could move, though, a unexpected bullet implanted itself into the wolf-like monster.
"I suppose we aren't alone," he spoke.
"Are you hunters?!" a new, raspy voice came from the house. The three looked up to find a somewhat older gentleman looking from the second-story window holding a small gun with a silencer in his hand.
"What are you doing, starting a fire in the middle of a fight? You'll attract all the grimm right back here!" Sagino responded.
"Well how else did you want me to get in contact? A call?" the man sarcastically replied.
"You don't. We come to you, but I suppose that's been pushed up on the schedule. Anyways, extinguish that fire before-"
A pack of beo-wolf grimm showed up. Looking aggravated but not questioning his situation, Sagino pulled his sword off his back and slashed around as much as he could. He took hits, scratches, punches, everything you'd imagine, yet his sword managed to do five times the damage back. One grimm, two grimm, three… He murdered them left and right as if they were nothing. Needless to say, it was inspiring to the others.
"I have a lot more to go before I become a real huntress!" Sagitari exclaimed.
"R-right," Ursus meekly agreed.
Before the two students could even help, the bloodied man was surrounded by the floating dust of the dead grimm.
"Now will you shut off that fire?!" Sagino angrily yelled at the old man in the window.
"Alright did that while you were tangoing. Anyways, could you take care of the rest of the grimm? I'd like this town to be back to normal so I can get my smoking pipe."
"You little…"
Sagino's curses were then interrupted by Ursus. "Excuse me, sir," he said, "We don't mean to inconvenience you, but we're here looking for a person. Do you know of someone named Agustus Edelweiss?"
The old man's face turned pale in an instant, so much so that it was noticeable from a distance. He nodded. "When you finish off the grimm, come back here. I can take you to him."
Sagitari jumped for joy. "Awesome! We found Orphiucha's father! Mission completed!"
Sagino grumbled, "Let's head back to the others."
Ursus nodded, but he couldn't shake off the bad feeling he had. Why did the man look so ashamed? So worried? Was Agustus truly here? He shook his head and focused on the good aspect, that they found her father, but there was more. Ursus knew there had to be more.
He couldn't think upon it, though, as a large group of grimm stood in front of them. The three took out their weapons in anticipation.
"Alright," Sagino groaned, "Let's take these grimm out for old mister prince over there!"
Orphiucha watched helplessly as Liu was brushed aside by the scorpion's tail and left lying on the ground.
"LIU!" Kang yelled from a distance. He let go of his semblance, but immediately a wave of lancers came flying down, forcing Kang to turn back around and keep them in check. "Someone! Check Liu!"
"Damn," Cam regretted, "I should've known! This grimm's other senses must be enhanced considering it stays in the ground."
The scorpion wasn't finished yet. Perhaps tired of its game with Cam and Orphiucha, it shifted its body towards the helpless Liu and started crawling. It wanted blood, and since the two weren't going to give it, Liu was the obvious choice.
"We need to stop it!" Cam pulled even more explosives and weapons out of the air and threw them at the monster, but nothing even pierced the skin. Orphiucha herself desperately released energy waves of every element from her batons, but it was all useless. The monster chose to ignore it in pursuit of its prey: Liu.
Liu. Orphiucha's stomach dropped as she saw him twitch. He was still alive. Conscious even. The only thing was that he seemed to be unaware of what was going on. As the scorpion got closer, Liu still sat there, head bobbing.
Liu. Orphiucha dropped her batons, as useless as they were right now, and sprinted as fast as she could. Her speed was far quicker than the scorpion.
Liu. She couldn't let him die. He showed her that humans could be trusted. That humans were still good.
Liu. He showed her that she didn't have to hide her feelings. She didn't have to shield herself behind a façade. He was someone she could trust with everything.
Liu. He was someone she could have feelings for.
Orphiucha successfully reached him before the scorpion got close and wrapped her arms around the wounded teammate. She could see his left arm bent in a strange direction and blood dripping down his face. He was still stable, but his eyes were looking a little hazy.
"Hey, Orphiucha," he muttered, "Pretty tough pickle we're in, huh?"
"Shh," she hushed him, "Don't waste your strength. Liu! Don't fall asleep just yet!"
"I'm sorry… Orphiucha. I'm still a burden to the team, it seems."
"Don't say that, Liu! You're a teammate, and I won't give up on you just like you didn't give up on me! Just sit here."
Orphiucha grabbed Liu's sword, then stood back up and turned around. The scorpion had reached striking distance and got its tail ready. Cam was focused on the other smaller grimm that tried to attack, it seemed, so it was just her. He didn't notice that she dropped her weapon or that Kang couldn't help them. They were effectively helpless with the exception of Liu's sword, though she assumed it would be about as useful as Cam's explosives. There was no way.
There was no way.
There was…
There was a way.
Five years prior…
Orphicha sat on the ground in amazement at what she had just conjured. She looked at her hands and tried it once again, but it didn't come out.
"What was that?" she asked to Aunt Juni, who was training her in the courtyard of a public park.
Aunt Juni laughed. "Looks like you summoned your semblance for the first time!"
"My semblance? But it was so strange!"
Juni sat down beside her. "That's what all semblances feel like the first time hunters and huntresses use them. It's different for everyone, of course, but I think it's that difference that makes it so strange. No one feels the same thing you do."
"Really?" Orphiucha questioned.
"Well, mostly. I suppose our semblance is different."
Orphiucha lifted her head up. "'Our?'"
Juni nodded. "Well, I'm surprised but it looks like you've inherited the Edelweiss semblance! Of course people like to compare it to the Schnee semblance since we're related, but it's mostly its own-"
"I won't use it," Orphiucha flatly stated. She crossed her arms in determination. Just hearing that it was connected with the Edelweiss name disgusted Orphiucha. In fact, just the knowledge that she had a semblance like this tainted her self-image. Well, if fate was pulling her towards the Edelweiss name with this semblance, then she would defy fate by any means necessary.
"Orph? C'mon, a semblance is an important part of every huntress."
"Then I'll be the first huntress to not have a semblance. After all, it's not my semblance. It's their semblance."
Juni frowned. "You know that I'm one of them, too?"
Orphiucha shook her head. She was more than determined to forget her semblance for the rest of her life.
Her aunt sighed. "Well, Orph, it's your choice, but remember this: Just because you use it doesn't mean you'll become someone else. You are you, and the semblance is secondary. Even if you do have a hereditary semblance, you won't become an Edelweiss. Now, let's get back to training, huh?"
She was done being selfish. Orphiucha took a deep breath and activated her semblance for the first time in five years just as the scorpion shot its tail downwards on the two.
A circular glyph appeared, and the scorpion tail crashed into it, unable to break through.
Orphiucha looked up with determination. Her snake eyes suddenly changed color from green to red, and the piercing gaze seemed to stop some of the smaller grimm from getting closer.
"Don't you ever touch my team again!"
The girl then raised her hand in the air and pushed forward, and the glyph shot the tail backwards. Orphiucha activated her semblance once more, creating a glyph under the giant grimm. As she had examined from both Juni and the spars that Weiss partook in, she knew exactly what her semblance could do. She sent the scorpion sliding backwards at an immense speed. It tried to get off the glyph but was unable to collect any friction, and found itself implanted into the side of a stone building.
Quickly, Orphiucha turned around. "Here, Liu. Put her arm around my neck."
Using his good arm, Liu did just that, and Orphiucha managed to pull him up. "Sorry… for the trouble…"
"Don't say that. Come on, let's get someplace safe."
She had to be fast. Thus, when the first thing she looked at was an abandoned café, she dragged her teammate towards it. The structure still looked well-intact and the windows were covered, so she felt it would be the best place to protect him. Once she made it to the door, she kicked it open with some added strength through her glyph. "Here we go," she hoisted him.
The place was dusty for sure, and the ground was slightly littered from the evacuation, but all the furniture was in place. She pulled Liu over towards a soft couch on the side of the room and slowly dropped him down. "Stay here, Liu. I'll come back when the fighting outside is over."
"But I can still fi-"
"No, Liu! Please… don't die, okay?"
Liu looked into Orphiucha's eyes for a few seconds and finally nodded. "Alright, I'll yield. The same goes for you, too. Don't die, Orph."
She grinned back. "Don't worry. It'll take more than a scorpion to kill someone like me."
After a reassuring pat on his shoulder, Orphiucha turned around and walked out the café, then shut the door. By this time, the scorpion had just dug itself out of the hole in the wall and tried to release its anger out on Cam, though Cam was just about as untouched as the beast was. She activated her semblance once more and sped up time, increasing her speed and allowing herself to run towards her dropped batons.
"Orph!" Sagitari yelled from a distance. Orphiucha looked over to find Ursus, Sagitari, and Sagino running over. She quickly cartwheeled, grabbing her batons as she moved over them and pointed the two towards the scorpion.
"Let's take care of this thing!" she yelled back.
"Where's Liu?" Sagitari asked just before standing beside Orphiucha. Ursus took the other side, though Sagino was impatient and already started charging against the monster.
"He took a bad hit, but he's fine. I hid him in a building nearby. Now, stand still!"
"What do you-" Sagitari's question was cut short when Orphiucha activated her semblance again, and created a path of glyphs that led towards the scorpion. Once the final glyph was placed, the three were sent at high speed in the direction of the scorpion. Sagitari was surprised, and Ursus was downright frightened, but neither of them could lose balance. Instead, it was as if the world was moving around them, positioning them to be in just to the side of the scorpion.
Once they stopped, Sagitari chuckled. "So you're using it?"
"I had to! Liu was in trouble and… ah, forget it! Let's just beat this grimm and find my dad!"
Sagitari smiled, but nodded and charged forward with her muscle mass only slightly increased. Ursus ran towards the monster as well, trying to stab it with the spear at a moderate distance. Meanwhile, Sagino lacked all the grace Cam had in his movements, choosing to instead jump and slam his hunk of metal called a sword on the grimm. Even with his strength, though, he could only create small cracks in the monster's skin or make it lose its balance.
Orphiucha went on the attack as well. After creating a glyph in the air, she jumped on top of it, aimed it at the scorpion, and jumped. In a mere nanosecond, she shot herself over the scorpion in order to give herself a chance at a slash. Yet even with that speed, the scorpion shell just dented again.
At this moment, the scorpion had had enough. It stretched its tail out and spun around, forcing the group to get to a safe distance.
"Damn! Nothing's getting past its armor!" Sagitari groaned as she landed.
"What can we do against this thing?" Ursus questioned. He initially grabbed at his spear's blade, but stopped himself.
Sagitari looked down in thought. "Its joints are the weak points for sure, but it won't kill it. Only impede it. That would be our best bet. Only issue is none of us have anything that can take out a tail that fast. Ursus has a spear for stabbing, I have brass knuckles, and you have batons. Cam's weapons are all lightweight so they wouldn't get through the joints, while Sagino isn't dexterous enough to hit that small of an area."
"So if the tail stopped moving, you could take it out?" a familiar voice said from behind.
The three looked back to find Liu with a painful look on his face, though his bad arm was supported by his scarf. It seemed he had managed to create an arm sling with it.
"Liu!? Why did you leave? I told you to say there!" Orphiucha asked.
Perhaps due to his current state, he didn't speak but instead threw his sword at Orphiucha. "Take this. I have a plan."
"Liu, do you really think you're in an okay state to do this?" Sagitari asked.
Again, Liu nodded. "I keep telling you, its fine. It's just the arm. Besides, my plan doesn't involve me doing any of the heavy fighting."
The three other teammates hesitantly nodded. They would have forced Liu to sit out, but Liu knew the others understood he had to be a part of the plan. The four then turned around to the fight scene, where Cam and Sagino kept the monster distracted.
"When I count down to one, we go. Three… two… one!"
Immediately, Sagitari and Orphiucha sprinted while Ursus and Liu stood back. Now four fought the scorpion at once, frustrating the monster once again. Sagitari continued her punches while Orphiucha slashed at the shell with Liu's sword. The thing remained unfazed, but furious.
And that was what Liu wanted.
Cam and Sagino took to one side of the monster while Orphiuch and Sagitari stood on the other, surrounding the monster. Having had enough of the useless strikes, the scorpion outstretched its tail once more and started spinning. The four were forced to step back as a result, signaling Liu and Ursus to instead come forward, though still remain distant enough to not take a hit from the tail.
"Let's do this, Ursus!"
A few minutes earlier…
Liu laid on the couch in pain. The numbness had already subsided, forcing Liu to feel the sharp discomfort that reverberated throughout his left arm. He was in a haze, half-stuck between the embrace of pain and the touch of the dirty couch. He felt sweat drip down his forehead. He felt his pain spike. He felt the dust touch his skin. He felt his pain once again. He felt the wind from outside come in. He felt the pain once more. Pain, pain, pain. That was all he felt.
Doing all he could to restrain himself from yelling, Liu looked around the dirty coffee shop. Every single part of the café - the tables, the chairs, the cash registers - all of it was caked with dust. Bundles of newspapers spread over the floor, and large coffee stain soiled the carpet in front of the couch Liu sat. Then Liu saw it: cans and bottles.
Cans and bottles. Cans and bottles. It was like destiny was taunting him for not knowing how to use his semblance.
Liu was filled with anger just looking at the sets, all standing in a row. Out of both rage and pain, he yelled as he shot his semblance-injected scarf at the set. He watched the end of the metal scarf go directly for the can in the middle. He didn't care what happened. He just wanted to get this anger out.
Yet, when it reached the can, the scarf spun around it and grabbed the tin. Liu hardly could believe it, so much so that he momentarily forgot about his pain and discomfort.
Then another spike of pain shook out of his stupor.
Liu gritted his teeth and pulled on the semblance in his scarf. As expected, the cloth came back, giving its master the spoils it had obtained. Liu touched the cold, dirty can in surprise. He tried his best not to stop, though: Immediately, he dropped it and tried again on the other objects. He couldn't forget the feelings he had when he grabbed the first can.
This time, he got a bottle.
It's like a limb, but it's not. Such a contradiction would make no sense to anyone, but to Liu it was a perfect analogy of his semblance. It felt like an arm to him, but it didn't function as a normal arm would. It was just a scarf, so he had to accommodate it as such.
Liu grabbed another bottle. And another. All the training he had done before, including attempting to grab the last two grimm, built him to where he was now. Even pulling the scarf back around his arm helped.
In fact, he didn't even need to use much physical effort to control his scarf. After finishing with the row, Liu stood up and started to run out of the café, but the pain in his arm made him stop in his tracks. Carefully, he wrapped his scarf around his shoulder in such a way that it functioned as an arm sling. Once that was completed, though he was still in pain, he could manage to run in order to help his friends. He had to help. He wanted to help.
At the same time, Liu shot out his scarf as Ursus threw his chain forward. The two caught onto the scorpion's tail as it spun around once more. Rather than being pulled along with the spin though, Liu's semblance gave his scarf unusually enhanced strength, while Ursus's own physical build mixed with his aura kept him from being swept away.
The scorpion was caught. Its tail was grabbed at both the base and the tip. Try as it might, it couldn't fight against the strength of Liu's semblance or the muscle of Ursus. The tail was straightened out, unable to curl once more.
Perfect for Orphiucha. The girl activated her semblance once more, sending her towards the scorpion at high speeds. She activated one more glyph, increasing her own personal speed. Then, once she was close, she jumped directly towards the tail. Her semblance enabled her such dexterous feats, and she skillfully slashed into the joint of the tail that couldn't be found due to its curled nature. The end of the tail came clean off.
Now it was Ursus' turn. His chain being the one that held the sharp end of the scorpion tail, he jumped and spun the bulb around in the air. With one more swing he threw it down, and the sharp bulb came onto the head of the scorpion grimm. Inflicting damage that none of them, not even Sagino or Sagitari, could cause, the scorpion stinger impaled deep into its original host, breaking through the hard outer shell that seemed almost impenetrable.
But it wasn't over yet, and that's where Sagitari came in. Suddenly, she activated her semblance to the utmost extremity to where her height even increased alongside her muscles. She launched herself forward with one jump, and nearly igniting the air with her speed, bridged the gap between her and the scorpion's head. Finally, she threw one massive punch, forcing the stringer even deeper into the grimm's skull to the point where its vitals had been breached.
The grimm, as a result, thrashed around, throwing Sagitari into a building nearby.
"Tari!" Orphiucha yelled, dashing for her friend.
The scorpion tried to claw at the wound on its head as well, but it was far too late. The stringer was all the way in. Eventually, its movements became weaker, smaller, and less unpredictable. The red eyes of the grimm faded as well, and with one more claw towards the sky, the beast started its disintegration process.
Team SOUL had won. At the sight of their victory, Liu and Ursus fell to their knees in exhaustion and relief.
"What a group of kids y'all are!" Sagino laughed as he walked forward. The smaller grimm, seeing their boss dead, had no hesitation in retreating. The few that did try to attack Sagino were easily brushed off.
"Indeed. I am impressed," Cam agreed with a small smile.
"T-thanks," Liu muttered. The pain was returning with even more fury, unfortunately, so he could barely say anything more than that.
Kang put down his sword when he saw the last of the flying grimm retreat towards the horizon. It made him sigh in relief, but shock came to his face when he turned around and saw Liu's state. "Liu?! Crap, your mother is really not going to like this! I don't want to be in the doghouse again!"
Despite his pain, though, seeing his dad's reaction made him chuckle.
From the left, Orphiucha was coming back, supporting a battered and bleeding Sagitari. "We need help over here!"
Immediately, Cam dashed towards them and took a medical box out from thin air. With his back covering the view, he masterfully bandaged and cleaned Sagitari's wounds. Pieces of debris, such a bloodied paper and bandages, were flying out of the blurs that he called his hands. Finally, he stood up and turned aside, revealing Sagitari's wounds and scratches all bandaged safely, though it seemed like she was in a hazy state, barely conscious.
"Now, next is Liu!"
The four kids walked behind Sagino, who led the group towards the house at the edge of the town. All four of them were bandaged, though Orphiucha seemed to have the least wounds in this battle. Liu's arm was finally put in a cast, Ursus's large claw wounds on his chest were all fully covered thanks to Cam redoing Sagitari's bandages, and Sagitari's body was just about wrapped like a mummy. That being said, Orphiucha's face looked the most worried. It was as if she was the most in pain and painkillers couldn't help her like it did the three others. It was like she wanted to cry, but did everything in her power to stop it.
It was understandable. They were going to see her father.
"My father... He's here…," she kept muttering. None of the others could aid her or give her any sort of calming words. This was something Orphiucha had to sort out herself.
Eventually, the proclaimed house was in sight, with an old man standing at the front of its small gate.
"Liu," Ursus whispered away from the other, "Can I say something? I'm worried. The guy there… he's also worried. Or guilty? I'm not sure."
"So? It'll be fine."
"But what if it ends up worse for Orphiucha? What if he brings some harsh reality down on her?"
Liu thought for a bit, but shook his head. "We have to let her find out the truth, no matter how painful it can be. Besides, she's a strong girl. I'm sure no matter what happens, she will still come out the same as she's always been."
Ursus nodded. "Sorry, I suppose you're right. I'll trust her."
Just as their conversation ended, the group of seven made it to the old man.
"Glad you all finished off the grimm. Unfortunately, I don't have any-"
"My father," Orphiucha interrupted, "Where is Agustus Edelweiss?"
The old man looked down and scratched his head. "I knew this day would come. Agustus gave me a message in preparation for this day."
"So? What is it?!" Orphiucha grabbed his collar in anticipation.
"You father is right. You have beautiful eyes," the man calmly responded. Orphiucha's face was contorted with pains from her past, and she let go, though she still stopped herself from crying. Remaining calm, the man patted his jacket and turned around.
"That wasn't the message. He just told me that a while back." With that, the man started walking with a small limp down the street.
"Hey," Kang spoke out loud, "Where are you going? We need some answers."
"Follow me," the old man spoke back, "I'm going to take you to Agustus Edelweiss."
(Author's Note: Hello! Thanks for reading RWBY: Revenant! This was... the longest chapter I've ever written for this story. Thanks for your patience! If you enjoy the story, leave a review, follow, or favorite it! I'm glad y'all take time our of your busy lives to read this! Anyways, have a good day and God bless!)
