"Why did you bring it over here!" Blake looked to the sensible half of the pair that had come running to the bridge. From their shouts, the boy's name was Ren and the girl with the grenade launcher was named Nora.
"I have a plan! Trust me!" Nora reloaded Magnhild as the Deathstalker continued its tireless pursuit, the weight of the creature of Grimm only speeding up the collapse of the bridge Yang had started. "Quick, throw me your ribbon thing!"
In any other situation, Blake would have corrected her. This was not like any other situations. This was the three of them having to stop a Deathstalker on a collapsing bridge while she had absolutely no idea where her partner had flown off shouting to. She threw Gambol Shroud to Nora.
"Catch! Take care of my baby! I'm gonna need it back later!" She threw her grenade launcher to her and hid herself behind a pillar on their side of the bridge.
"I'm out!" Ren stepped back into cover, dropping the empty Dust magazines from StormFlower. The ice had succeeded in freezing part of the Deathstalker to the falling bridge but it was cracking if not already shattered by the creature's strength.
"How do I even use this thing?" Blake stared at the weapon in her hand. She had seen it in action but she had no experience with it. Gambol Shroud never made her account for arcs in her shot or being slow or anything that would transfer over to a grenade launcher beyond pulling a trigger.
"Switch with me!" Ren seemed to notice her issue, held up his now reloaded StormFlower. "I've used it before."
"Gladly." She threw the grenade launcher over the space between them, Ren sending both pistols of StormFlower spinning end over end through the air her way. She caught both machine pistols, Gambol Shroud and StormFlower having much more crossover to her than Nora's Magnhild.
She opened fire with one, the rounds lighter than what she used in Gambol Shroud but familiar enough. The Grimm stopped its approach under her fire, large claws brought up to shield its eyes from her. Ren seemed familiar enough with Magnhild to fire off a grenade faster than she would've and with better accuracy, his shot managing to knock part of the bridge off but also nearly send the Grimm toppling into the mist filled depths down below. Unfortunately, it's deceptive speed let it skitter back onto a more stable section of the bridge.
It at least stopped its approach for now, snapped its claws instead.
"Why did you have its stinger?" Blake asked the most pressing question on her mind while they held the Grimm back.
"It's a long story." Ren fired off another grenade, succeeded in dropping a shot right on top of the Grimm. It was consumed in a pink cloud it promptly walked out of, its white carapace barely singed from the explosive. "This thing's shell is too tough to hurt with anything we've got."
Blake silently agreed. The rounds from StormFlower weren't even enough to stagger the Grimm, emptying out both magazines succeeding in only annoying it further.
The Grimm also seemed to know she was out judging by how it was now speeding up its approach despite the grenades from Magnhild still dropping on top of it. Its carapace was too strong for the grenades to get through, the Grimm no longer even rocked by the pink explosions.
"It's not going to stop this time." Ren retreated to cover, shot a glance to Nora. "Nora, what are you doing?"
"Nail's finished!" Nora held up her creation with a smile as she ran over.
She had tied the Deathstalker's stinger to Gambol Shroud's ribbon using an elaborate knot. She had even added a bow.
"Hammer me Ren!" She tossed Gambol Shroud to Blake who managed to catch it as she charged out. Ren tossed her Magnhild as she ran past him and she swiftly had the hammer in her hand, a grenade propelling her high into the air. "Nail gun away!"
Ren's eyes sparked with realization, glanced to Nora, the Deathstalker, and Gambol Shroud's ribbon now tied to the stinger one after the other.
"Oh." Ren collected the stinger from the ground. "I see."
He held it in his palm while Blake only offered him a look of confusion. He didn't provide his answer in words but in his actions.
A strike from his other hand to the end, with a burst of Aura coloring the air, sent the stinger fly into the sky with her ribbon trailing behind. Sending the stinger to where a smiling Nora had already reared back with her hammer.
Blake caught on quick, kicking one of the pistols of StormFlower across the ground to him. He caught it and promptly wedged the blade at the end into the pillar next to him. She grabbed his other hand and mentally braced herself as the ribbon reached its limit just as Nora fired off a grenade from Magnhild.
"SMASH!"
Nora cackled as she descended back to the ground with aid from another grenade fired from Magnhild, the stinger turning into a golden blur before it slammed through the Deathstalker's back and into the bridge beneath. Blake couldn't help but think the Grimm itself was just as surprised as she was at what just happened.
Well, it was surprised until it was dead.
'Who are these two?' Blake collapsed onto her back as a laughing Nora landed in front of them, her hammer rested across her shoulder.
"I told you not to worry." Nora smiled. "It all came together in the end."
Ren joined Blake on the ground.
"Let's just get a relic." Ren sat back up, dragged himself back to his feet. He still had to collect his other gun.
Nora busied herself with not only using the ribbon tied to the stinger to retrieve her prize but also head over to one of the many pedestals holding the relics the students had been sent to find. She was saying something about being Queen of something but Blake merely stared up at the sky.
'Is this what everyday is going to be like here?'
"OH! What's going on over there?"
Away from the ruins and the now only partially standing bridge, Yang and Ruby had circled around the clearing using the forest and found Pyrrha, Jaune, and Weiss.
"The Nevermore doesn't know you two are over here." Jaune risked a glance out into the clearing, saw the Nevermore knocking trees out of the way with powerful flaps of its wings, beak snapping others in half as it searched for Ruby. "That's a good thing at least. We can get you two your weapons back before it figures out anything."
Weiss was awake but had restrained herself from yelling at Ruby, had calmed herself down with a breathing exercise off to the side. Jaune was currently refilling Yang's Aura after the hits she had taken once they had landed. She didn't seem to be missing much or he had a better hold on his Semblance than Pyrrha would've given him credit for because he was stepping away in less than a third of the time it took him to get Weiss back on her feet.
"You've got a speed Semblance, right?" Jaune looked to Ruby, earned a mute nod. She had been focused on her feet in lieu of speaking, could feel Weiss's glare on her ever since the two had approached the three.
"Then me, Pyrrha, and Yang can draw that thing's attention while you use it to get Crescent Rose from by the bridge. Once you do that, we can all work together to kill that thing and get Weiss her weapon back." He focused on Weiss. "Until we can do all that, want one?" He threw a hand over his shoulder to the swords strapped to his back. "Mine probably aren't what you're used to but it's better than having nothing, right?"
Weiss gritting her teeth was almost audible from where she stood. She shot one last glare to Ruby, the fault on her for even putting someone as exceptional as Weiss Schnee in such a position, but stepped up to Jaune.
"I'm not wholly dependent on Myrtenaster to be a Huntress. I'm more than able to fight with one of your weapons." The grimace she only partially succeeded in holding off of her face was ignored, or completely unseen, by Jaune as he reached behind him and drew a longsword.
Minus his two-handed sword, it seemed like all of his weapons were odd with the longsword being no exception. It had one normal edge on one side and the other had a saw-toothed design. He flipped the blade in his hand, offered the blue and gold hilt to Weiss. She took it in both hands, adjusted herself to the weight of the unfamiliar weapon.
"There's Gravity Dust in the hilt." He drew an identical longsword from his back. The blade was briefly enshrouded by a glow and Weiss felt a tug from the sword in her hand before the glow was gone. "My swords are like magnets with it."
He switched out the longsword and drew his two-handed sword and the partially hollow blade from his back and looked to Pyrrha and Yang.
"So…everybody set?"
Yang deployed Ember Celica from bracelets to gauntlets over her hands.
Pyrrha drew Milo and Akouo from their place on her back into her hands.
"Get ready Ruby, once we've got that thing's attention, get to your weapon as soon as you can." Jaune's body began to glow. Pyrrha noticed her own body take on a glow, Yang with her next to him. He smiled. "One last boost."
Yang, courtesy of paired shots of Ember Celica, reached the Grimm first. She managed to land on the creatures back, grab hold of steel feathers in one hand as the other reared back before slamming forward, discharging a shot from Ember Celica at the moment of impact. Pyrrha was launched through the air courtesy of her shield and Jaune using one of his swords as a bat. She soared over the Grimm, aimed for its eyes with her rifle. The Grimm avoided being blinded in one eye but the other was shot out. Jaune was the last to arrive, two waves of Aura crashing into the wings and throwing the Grimm to the ground once more.
Ruby was a red blur courtesy of her Semblance, a trail of rose petals the only thing marking the path she took towards where Crescent Rose laid impaled in the ground.
The Grimm screeched before she was suddenly bombarded by a barrage of feathers.
"Ruby!" Yang unleashed a flurry of blows to the Nevermore, tried to ground it with a bombardment of shells to no avail. The creature only screeched once more, rose with a strength none of the three students expected and threw her off and to the ground. It seemed all but laser focused on Ruby, the girl currently stuck to the ground from the barrage of feathers pinning her cloak to the ground.
Jaune and Pyrrha stayed on the attack against the Nevermore, powerful waves of Aura and precise Dust rounds trying to draw its attention to them as Yang rushed to free her trapped sister.
"Why is this thing after Ruby?" Jaune asked the most pressing question on his mind as he struck down with his two-handed sword, a wave of Aura crashing into the Grimm but still failing to break its focus on Ruby. Pyrrha threw Milo forward as a javelin, hoped to infuriate the Grimm once her weapon punched through near a wing. It only answered with a screech and a swing of its other wing, unleashed a barrage of feathers that forced her to dodge out of the way. Compared to the dozens it had sent at Ruby, the paltry six or so she had been forced to dodge had been easy.
"It must be holding a grudge, I've never seen that before." Pyrrha threw her shield next, bounced it off the Nevermore's armored head while she called Milo back to her hand. She was hoping to annoy it, draw its ire in some way, but the Grimm barely spared her a glance.
If she wasn't trying to stop it from hurting Ruby, she would almost be insulted.
"Can it start hating us too? This is insane!" Jaune jumped at the Grimm with an Aura backed leap, weathered the storm of feathers it unleashed from its massive wings but ended up thrown to the ground before he could launch whatever his attack would've been. Pyrrha spared a glance to make sure none of the feathers that hit had actually hurt him before she opened fire on the Grimm again, shifted her focus to where the frozen Myrtenaster was still impaled in its body.
'That may be our best shot.' Pyrrha shifted her aim, exchanged her normal rounds for a magazine of Fire Dust rounds. It took only three shots to melt the ice keeping Myrtenaster trapped in the Grimm.
"Jaune! Distract it!"
"I'm on it!" Jaune didn't need to know much else, charged the Grimm as he threw his two-handed sword like she would have thrown Milo as a javelin. The Gravity Dust in the sword in his other hand dragged him after it, let him catch it and come down on the Grimm.
The two-handed sword gained a new edge as the guard expanded on all sides, served as a slot for him to place the partially hollow sword in. He used both hands to crash his new sword down on top of the Nevermore's screeching head with a shout, a bright yellow burst of Aura finally dropping the Grimm to the ground with force.
Pyrrha used the distraction Jaune gave to grab Myrtenaster, spot where Weiss was waiting by the trees with Jaune's sword in her hand.
Jaune let out a shout as the Nevermore batted him away with a wing when he tried to hit it again, sent him skidding across the ground like a stone. He dragged himself up but he almost immediately fell back to the ground, the yellow glow of his Aura surrounding him as he used his Semblance on himself. Pyrrha would've normally rushed to Weiss but the Nevermore was targeting Jaune, another wave of a wing and a barrage of feathers knocked him across the ground and towards the bridge. It had seemingly chosen to go after him instead of Ruby thanks to his latest attack, Yang working to rip the feathers out of her cloak with limited success. All this in mind, Pyrrha simply used her Polarity Semblance to rip her across the clearing through the air.
She caught Weiss when she all but slammed into her, the sword from Jaune jerked out of the way from hitting her by another brief use of her Semblance.
Whatever Weiss was going to say died in her throat when Pyrrha shoved the freed Myrtenaster into her hands.
"You told me you were exceptional, right?" Pyrrha brought her shield back to her arm and readied Milo as her sword. "Prove it."
"O-Of course." Weiss raised Myrtenaster after changing the Dust.
Pyrrha saw the glow consume her, could feel the energy surrounding her.
"You'll be faster now." Weiss was consumed in a similar glow. "I'll get my…partner." She was gone, dashing at high speeds across the clearing and towards Ruby and Yang.
Yang saw her coming and rejoined the fight with the Nevermore with a volley from Ember Celica, reloaded her gauntlets before she propelled herself back to it. Jaune was able to get back on his feet, shake the stars out of his head. He noticed Weiss had reclaimed her weapon and the Gravity Dust in the sword the Schnee had dropped activated. It came to his free hand as the other held his combined weapon.
He charged the Nevermore that had its yellow eyes focused on him, his Semblance building up his Aura until it was glowing around him.
Pyrrha was the first to reach the Grimm, racing up its back with the temporary speed boost from Weiss, and driving Milo into the armor on its head. Yang redirected her course as Jaune once more weathered through an assault from steel feathers unleashed by the Grimm's flapping wings. His Aura turned into a shield spreading out from his two swords, helped him keep going even if each impact nearly threw him off his feet.
Yang hoped to drive Milo into the Grimm's head like a hammer would a nail with a punch, succeeded in doing so while the Grimm was focused on the lightshow Jaune was putting on.
Pyrrha caught her when the Grimm's screech and thrashing would've thrown her off and somewhere into the feather filled trees of the forest behind them. She turned and sent her back towards the Grimm. Yang landed another heavy blow to Milo to drive it further into the Grimm's head but, minus pain, it didn't seem to be working.
"We need something bigger!" Yang made her observation as Pyrrha caught her for the second time, a mix of positioning and using her Polarity on Yang's gauntlets to get her into position.
Jaune's latest wave of Aura crashed into the Grimm and rocked it.
Yang and Pyrrha met the eye of the other and nodded.
Pyrrha spun and, using Polarity on where Akouo rested on her arm to add to it, threw Yang towards Jaune and called Milo back to her, transitioning the weapon from a sword to a rifle and opening fire on the Grimm.
"Big sword!" Yang shouted out what would be nonsense in any other situation but this.
Jaune only nodded. He had seen what they were attempting, had sent his last wave of Aura at the Grimm to try and get its attention to give them another chance.
He added the longsword in his hand to the joined blade already in his hand, reached behind him for the identical longsword and added it next. Both were placed on the opposite end of the partially hollow sword, their edges facing out and saw-toothed edge facing towards the center. Green eyes met blue and he nodded.
Pyrrha held out her hand and a black glow enveloped the mostly completed Multos Armis, sent it straight into the air from Jaune's hands.
Before Yang left with Ember Celica propelling her into the air, Jaune amplified her Aura with his free hand. The other was busy drawing a large dagger-like sword from his back, the most notable feature of it being part of a gear between the single edged blade and the blue and gold hilt. Once Yang was gone, he drew an identical sword to his unoccupied hand and charged the Grimm once more.
A wing was swung towards him.
It was partially frozen in the midst of such a motion, made the Grimm screech in pain at such a thing, as the feathers failed to fly and stop the approaching Jaune.
He didn't need to glance behind him to know Ruby and Weiss were responsible.
He had been focused on making such a lightshow with his Aura to try and buy them as much time as they needed to join the fight themselves.
The Grimm's attempt to use its other wing was met with similar results, another miniature iceberg rapidly growing from Ruby's next successfully shot, Weiss no doubt helping her freeze the Grimm piece by piece.
A black Glyph spun to life at the Grimm's talons, spun to life behind either wing, and it was further weighed down by whatever Weiss was doing. Jaune had no idea what. He risked a glance up above to where Multos Armis was hovering with a black glow still around it.
Ruby fired another shot, more ice turning the Grimm immobile with every successful shot she landed. Another shot and more ice spread as Yang began to comes down after Weiss's Glyphs had offered her a launching pad to grow even higher. Her Semblance turned her into something closer to a shooting star as her hair ignited and she drew back her arm.
She didn't need a shot from Ember Celica to add anymore force to Jaune's sword.
It tore through the armored head of the Grimm like a silver bullet, slammed into the ground beneath.
"See Glynda. There was never any reason to worry." Ozpin closed his Scroll and put it away upon the successful defeat of both creatures of Grimm. He seemed to no longer have any interest in observing the Initiation. "These new students are more than capable of taking on any challenge when they're united."
"'In unity lies strength'." Goodwitch shook her head as she followed Ozpin's example, the rest of the faculty were more than capable of continuing their observations alone. "I suppose you were right Headmaster."
"Now, I believe it is time we leave. We do still need to prepare for the next part of Beacon Academy's Initiation." Ozpin led the way to the airship awaiting them.