Chapter 11: The Emerald Forest Part 1
Ryler, his new partner Weiss and Ruby were walking through the forest. There were a few Beowolves and Creeps that they encountered along the way but they were quickly and easily dealt with. The arguments were now happening a lot less as time went on. There were gun shots that could be heard at several points during their walk. They thought they were getting close to some people but the shots never seemed to get closer. Ryler though that it meant they were going in the same direction as the people who were firing. Ryler thought about how far they were from their goal now. It seemed like they were heading in the right direction based on what he saw when he was flying through the air before. He looked back to see that Ruby and Weiss were somewhat getting along. They weren't having a full conversation but they were at least speaking to one another. It wasn't much but one word responses from Weiss was actually very good at this stage.
"So," Ryler began and immediately had their attention. "I think we're heading in the right direction but I want to be sure."
"Okay, we don't exactly have a compass and we haven't been issued our Scrolls yet so we can't look up a map of the area, sooo..." Ruby began.
"What exactly are you proposing?" Weiss finished.
"Well, I'm going to fly ahead and find the temple, then I'll come back and lead you to where it is exactly. While I'm gone, Weiss, you're in charge so I want you to look after Ruby for me." Ruby had an annoyed look on her face. "I can take care of myself you know." Ruby crossed her arms over her chest.
"You tried to stop a robbery all on your own without even thinking about calling for back up." Ryler stated. Ruby now had a guilty look to go with her crossed arms.
"Did you really do that?" Weiss asked. Ryler saw a little glint of respect in her eyes as she looked at Ruby.
"Kinda, and I did stop the robbery, I just couldn't catch the guy who did it..."
"Now please," Ryler took a few steps away from them and reformed his wings. "Keep moving forward and don't get into too much trouble while I'm away." Ryler jumped as high as he could into the air and used his thrusters to propel himself further up. He flew in circles a couple times and watched as Ruby waved goodbye.
Ryler was starting to think that leaving those two alone wasn't going to turn out well. He knew what happened in the show. Then he remembered that this world was different and had to trust in Ruby more to not be as reckless as her show counterpart. He circled above them a few more times before flying off in the direction that they were heading. It seemed to be right way after all since the cliffs were to the rear. He needed to be extra sure, there might still be a Deathstalker lurking around in a cave somewhere. With how uncertain the future was now, he would rather they not have to deal with it at all.
...
"Well, now that he's gone, I say we started heading in the direction of the ruins for real now." Weiss said as she turned 90 degrees to the right and started heading off in that direction. Ruby didn't move at first, she was concerned about changing directions so drastically. Weiss stopped when she didn't hear anyone walking behind her. She looked back and saw Ruby fidgeting in place, "Are you coming or are you gonna stay here?" Weiss asked.
"Shouldn't we keep going this way? Ryler did say that it was the right way to go and he was able to study the area better than us when we were first launched." Ruby said. Weiss, however, was very stubborn.
"If he did know the way to go, then don't you think he would have stayed? He obviously left because he didn't know and was just trying to make it seem like he was being cautious. When in reality, he was trying to cover up the fact that he didn't know where we were. He doesn't know the right way to go and didn't want to admit it." Weiss said, fully confident that she was right about everything she told the young girl.
"Oh, ah, well, okay." Was all Ruby was able to say. She didn't want to believe that her friend was leading them in the wrong direction but she was afraid that Weiss would leave her behind if she did stay. Ruby knew that they shouldn't be apart while they were in a place as dangerous as the Emerald Forest. So she reluctantly agreed to go with her. Before she was too far away from where they were, she took out her scythe and cut off a few branches from a tree that was facing the same direction of where they were going. She hoped that it would be enough for Ryler to catch up to them.
...
Ryler was flying through the air, he was enjoying the feeling of being so high above the ground. Flying was something that he always loved to do. It was something that he carried over from his past life. His thoughts were interrupted by something happening not too far off from where he was. Off to his left was a small plume of smoke rising into the air and a few smaller explosions coming from around its base. He thought that this might have been the cause of the gun shots they had been hearing and decided to check it out in case someone needed help. He banked sharply and headed off in that direction. It was only a few seconds and he was over the area. Below him was something he wasn't expecting, something that reinforced the idea that this world was not the same as the show.
There were several White Fang members fighting off an Ursa Major. He debated with himself on whether or not to help them. Ultimately he chose to help them. "I'll show them that not all humans are terrible. If they attack me then I'll just keep talking until they don't see me as a threat." Ryler flew down behind them a ways back in the trees. He wasn't afraid to be seen helping them but they might still try to retaliate somehow. If they found out he was a Beacon student then they'd go after his friends instead, it was the Spider-Man effect. He needed to protect his identity in order to protect his friends.
He used his powers and a small part of his suit to make a mask that covered most of his face. It was a metallic copy of Ken Kaneki's mask, complete with teeth and all. He used his powers to take off his suit and hid it within the trees. He was left in just the under suit and boots. He made a new outfit using plant fibers as the base. While his suit could be described as futuristic, his new attire was better described as SpecOps. It was made up of a combat best that was a dark shade of violet. The pockets and pouches on the vest were black to make it easier to identify where they were. His pants were turned into a pair of black jeans with his emblems changing from the combo of an atom and universe to just the atom in white. His arms are also different, they now had sections of armor in various places all along his arms. He tapped on one part of his arm plating and heard a satisfying metallic rings. Now that his disguise was finished, he moved on to his new weapon.
He thought about what he should use, it needed to be different to his arm shield\blades but something he could still use effectively. The weight wouldn't matter too much since it would be made of light but he still wanted style points. Ryler heard the high pitched whizz of a few stray shots flying passed him and hurried up his decision. He settled on using a pair of short hilt battle axes. He held out his hand and made one axe appear. It was a single sided bearded axe with a slightly curved handle. It had a very viking like apparel to it. He quickly copied the design and headed off into battle.
He ran out of the tree line just as one of the White Fang members was being held down by the Ursa. It was bearing (hehe bear) down on him, ready to bite his head off. Ryler rushed in and slammed his shoulder into its side, knocking it over. He looked down at the guy he saved. He was a leopard Faunus, if the spotted hair was anything to go by. He looked down at him and he was staring back up at him. Ryler reached down and he covered his face waiting for him to be attacked.
Ryler hated that this was a natural response for him. He grabbed him by the front of his shirt and dragged him backwards to his buddies. There was a small caravan of three vehicles that the rest of them were hiding behind taking shots at the beast when it was focused on the other guy. Ryler dragged him until he was behind cover with them and dropped him at their feet. They raised their guns up at him and backed into a tight cluster. Ryler didn't have time to waste and explaining that he wasn't like the other humans, he had to deal with the Ursa first. Speaking of which, Ryler looked back at his target and saw that it was just now getting back to its feet.
Ryler ran at the Ursa again but this time it swiped its claws at him. Ryler reacted by jumping over its attack and landed behind it. He swung the left axe backwards at its legs and the hit was strong enough to make it stumble a bit. It jumped forward to try and gain some distance. Ryler didn't let it get very far, he threw one of his axes and embedded it into its back between the many bone spikes. It roared in pain and ran at Ryler thinking he was defenseless without one of his weapons. It swiped its claws at him again and Ryler jumped over it again. This time though, he was aiming to land on its head. He kicked both of his feet down just as he was about to land. The Ursa's head slammed into the ground, throwing dirt into the air. Ryler stepped onto its back and pulled his axe out. He moved back to the head of the still dazed Grimm. He lifted his axe high above his head, ready to deliver the finishing blow to the monsters neck.
"STOP!"
Ryler heard one of the Faunus, who before was hiding behind their vehicles, shout to him. He was aiming his gun directly at him. Ryler lowered his axe slowly. He stepped back and the other members came out with multiple thick, heavy duty chains. They attached a very sturdy looking collar to the neck of the Ursa and at many other places on its body. It roared in protest as it was dragged into one of the two trucks in the caravan. When they were done loading it in they all came back and surrounded Ryler. He waited for a few seconds just looking around at his adversaries. It seemed that all the members of their party were present.
"Get on the ground human scum!" One of them, a bird Faunus with green feathers on his head ordered. Of course Ryler had no intention of doing that. He just put his axes away in a pair of holsters on his back and held out his right hand with his palm facing up.
"Did you know that there are people in this forest besides us?" Ryler asked. He formed a ball of light in his hand. It was dim at first but gradually grew brighter. Several White Fang members were nervous about this strange ball. Ryler couldn't help but to remember the last time he was in a situation like this. His heart pounded against his chest from the memory. If he wasn't careful then they could end up being killed by him. He steadied his breathing and focused on keeping them all distracted.
"What the hell are you talking about? Get on the ground like I told you and we won't hurt you. Not a lot anyway." He and a few other chuckled.
Ryler made the ball grow bigger and brighter until it was about as big as a basketball. It shined so brightly that it was hard to see anything without some sort of eye protection. It was annoying to look at but even more annoying for the Faunus' better evolve eyes.
"There are a few Huntsmen and Huntresses in the area. If I just signal them they'll be all over this place in seconds. You won't have anywhere to run." His plan was working, they were getting even more nervous by the second.
"Yeah, a bunch of snot nosed brats playing hero in the forest. They wouldn't even get close to us before we dealt with them." The bird Faunus, who was apparently the leader of the group, said, trying to reassure his team that they weren't in any danger.
Ryler was just about ready to enact his plan now. He saw a flash of metal in the shadows of the tree line. Just like he had before. "Well, you might be right about that, so let's see how you deal with these guys instead." Ryler said as he threw the ball into the air and detonated it when it was above the trees. The following flash was bright, about as bright as a camera's flash but lasted way longer. Ryler got used to it almost immediately but for the unsuspecting and better developed eyes of the Faunus, it might as well have been a flash bang. They all recoiled in pain as they were temporarily blinded by the intense light. Ryler ran at the leader, who had been standing in front of him, and hit him with the bladeless half of one of his axes in the gut. He was thrown backward into the dirt. He wasn't prepared for that attack and couldn't activate his aura quick enough. The blow had knocked the air out of his lungs, he groaned as he passed out from the hit. He heard someone land behind him and turned around to see Lance.
"That was a well thought out plan, Master but how did you know we were here in the first place?" Lance said. One moment he was surrounded by White Fang members and the next they were replaced by Team ASTR. The entire White Fang team had been knocked unconscious by the skilled team of third years.
"Please, as if Ozpin wouldn't have asked you to keep all us first years safe while in a Grimm infested forest. He did launch us off a cliff but I doubt even he would be so reckless as to endanger new students." Ryler said.
"Saki, Char, take a look around make sure there aren't anymore White Fang tossers around." Terra, or rather Tetra judging by the tone of her voice, told Sakura and Charlotte. They nodded and left to search the surrounding forest.
"Couple that with the giant pillar of smoke rising into the air and there wasn't a doubt in my mind that you, or at the very least someone, would be here soon." Ryler pointed at the source of the smoke, which he now saw was the wreckage of another truck. It was likely one of the ones used by the White Fang.
"Nice catch, kid!" Tetra said as she slapped Ryler on the back pretty hard. "Taking on a Major and a squad of the White Fang. Maybe Terra was right after all, you really do have the bullocks that it takes to make it here." Tetra said but was cut off by Terra coming out.
"Hey, just because you do the fighting for us doesn't mean you can just go around and tell people things I've said without my permission!"
"Oh come off it princess, it's not like I told him about that stuffed bear you sleep with every night."
"TETRA!"
Ryler was smiling with amusement at the conversation. He noticed something that he hadn't, but probably should have, heard before, Tetra had a clear English accent while Terra didnt. It was interesting and he wondered why that was the case but overall he just liked the fact that they had something to set themselves apart. After all, it must be hard to live in the same body with someone else.
Ryler felt that he had stayed here long enough. He still had to find the forest temple, get back to Ruby and Weiss and get them back to the cliffs to finish their assignment. "Yeah, so I'm going to leave now. Terra, Tetra, Lance, have fun cleaning this up." Ryler, without thinking, used his powers to re equip his armor, reformed his wings and take off back into the air. "And say hi to Charlotte and Sakura for me!" He called back as he took off toward his original destination.
"... That's it, I've gone mad, it really looked like he made those wings out of bloody magic" Tetra said. Lance was still staring at the area above the trees where Ryler had disappeared behind.
"Maybe it's some kind of special Atlas tech?" Terra said as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Maybe, Master never did tell us where he's originally from." Lance said. He was now walking over to the rest of the convoy to dispatch the captured Grimm. "What I want to know, is why the White Fang would be catching Grimm in the first place."
...
Ryler flew across the sky again, not realizing that he had unknowingly used his powers in front of other people. He was too focused on locating the ruins and getting back to Ruby and Weiss so they can all get their artifacts. He wanted to prevent the forest from going up in flames this time around and in order to do that he needed to get back to Ruby as soon as possible. Ryler was lost in his thoughts, so lost in fact that he didn't notice the grenade that was shot at him.
BOOM!
Ryler winced as he was hit by a blast of some kind. The explosion was strong enough to break away a small section of his left wing. He wasn't able to stay in the air and quickly fell toward the ground. He reacted as fast as he could without using his powers to slow down time and tried to catch himself before he hit the ground. He wasn't able to completely prevent himself from hitting the ground but he lessened the impact. He was mad, though not enough to warrant him using his breathing exercises.
"BOOM! Hey Ren! I got it! I told you I could." He heard a very familiar voice call out from his right. He was picking himself up off the ground and brushing away the dirt still on him. Nora burst through the trees and proceeded to tackle Ryler back to the ground. At least this time he wasn't face down.
"Nora, please, you can't rush off on your own, it's dangerous out here." Ren entered the area slowly and with more caution than Nora. He was about to continue reprimanding his partner until he noticed what, or rather who, Nora had attacked. She had Ryler in a head lock but he didn't look to be in pain, he was more uncomfortable from the closeness than anything else. "Nora, please let go of your classmate."
Nora had been looking at Ren the entire time and somehow only just noticed that her target was actually a person. "Oh hey, your the bird person!" She yelled in an excited voice. She released him from the head lock and he collapsed back onto the ground. Ryler was pulled up with shocking ease by Nora and placed in a standing position. It was as if he was not a person but a mannequin meant to be picked up and placed around in any position. He was still confused by what was
Ren pulled her back to stand near him and addressed Ryler. "I'm sorry for my friend here shooting you out of the air like that. Nora tends to act without thinking if she see a Grimm." Ren said, just like in the show, he was very polite and respectful. He gave a respectful bow to him in apology and then focused his attention back to Nora.
"Nora." Ren said in the same way that a father would to scold his daughter. Nora knew she was in trouble whenever Ren spoke to her like that. Nora have a small, "yes?" in response.
"You shot a classmate, possibly future teammate, out of the sky..." Ren said, letting the rest of his sentence go unfinished. Nora didn't seem to need the end of the sentence, she already knew what he wanted her to do. She walked back in front of Ryler but with her head hanging low.
"I'm sorry I shot you out of the sky." She said. She looked more like a puppy after it was scolded for wetting the rug than the confidant and hyperactive young woman he'd seen in the show. He needed to fix that immediately.
"Don't worry about it, I'm not hurt at all. In fact, I'm actually really impressed that you were able to hit me at all. I was moving pretty fast after all. Just try to get your targets' IFF status next time, alright?" Ryler said. Nora instantly lit up with happiness after hearing Ryler praise her aim.
Ryler smiled back at her and Ren. He took a couple steps back and as he did he channeled more of his "Semblance" into his suit. Ren and Nora watched as he reformed his wings again, making them as good as new. For what felt like the thousandth time that day, he took off back into the air.
"Ren?" Nora said as she stared up at the shrinking form of Ryler.
"Yes Nora?" Ren responded as he too was also looking at Ryler.
"What does IFF mean?" Ren sigh as he started walking in the same direction as Ryler flew.
Ryler soared over the trees, back on track to the temple ruins. He was hoping that he could get to his destination without anymore interruptions now. He was wondering why he hadn't seen them yet, it should have been easy to find them, especially since he was so high up. Ryler came to a stop in the air and just hovered there as he mentally berated himself.
"Stupid, dumb, idiot moron!" He yelled out in frustration. He was mad at himself because he had come to a sudden and obvious realization. Why was he flying around looking for the ruins when he could have just flown up until he could see them? Ryler's eye twitched from the sheer stupidity of the situation. Ryler felt like an idiot for not realizing that sooner. He could have stayed with Weiss and Ruby instead of leaving. Ryler flew up until he could see Vale in the distance beyond the cliffs near Beacon. A quick scan around and sure enough, there were the ruins to the North. This method was so easy that Ryler could only do one thing.
"Son. Of. A. BITCH! FUUUUUU-"
...
Meanwhile, Ruby and Weiss were looking around trying to find the source of the weird sound.
"What is that sound?" Weiss asked as she searched through a bush to try and find the noise.
"I don't know, but to me, it kinda sounds like someone yelling out of frustration because they discovered a much easier way to do something important." Ruby said as she just sat on a fallen log.
Weiss just stood back up and looked at Ruby with a hint of confusion. "That was oddly specific." Weiss said. Ruby just shrugged her shoulders and said, "It's just a thought." Weiss decided not to push the issue further, they still had to find a way to their objective and soon. Weiss started pacing around, she was having trouble deciding which way to go. Just like in the show, they had gotten lost.
"I told you we should have just kept going the way Ryler told us to go." Ruby was just watching Weiss pace back and forth. She had taken a seat after she realized that they'd be there for a while. Ruby started to entertain herself by pulling individual blades of grass out of the ground under and around the log. She started to weave them together to make small crowns and bracelets, she was currently working on a basket.
"And I told you that I don't need anyone to tell me how to navigate a forest. I was trained by one of the best Huntresses to come out of Atlas you know. And her training involved a rigorous lesson on wilderness survival and navigation. Ergo, I am more than capable of getting us to a simple temple in a simple forest." Ruby wasn't paying attention to Weiss, she was too busy working on her crafts. After a while, Ruby smiled and quietly cheered to herself as her basket was now finished. It was actually pretty big, considering it was only made out of small blades of grass. Ruby stood upwith her basket in hand which caused Weiss to stop and look at her.
"And now you're wasting time with basket weaving? I'll tell you now, if this is the way you act, you won't last a month at Beacon. Are you even listening to me? We need to think of a way to..." Ruby ignored Weiss and just placed the basket in her hands. She then activated her Semblance and began running in circles around Weiss as fast as she could.
Weiss watched as a flurry of rose petals appeared out of nowhere and were tossed into the air around her. Ruby's speed even caused a small tornado to form around the small Huntress in training. She kept going until she was starting to get tired. When she stopped the basket was filled to the brim with rose petals. That wasn't all though, the bushes, tree roots, branches, the log and even Weiss herself were all covered in rose petals. Ruby quickly caught her breath and took back the basket. Weiss looked like she just stepped out of a hurricane, because she pretty much had.
"Okay, now we can leave and if we hit a dead end, we can just use this basket of goodies to find our way back here. Or, Ryler can use them to find us." Ruby said as she was now literally skipping through the forest, tossing flowers into the air with a little flourish. Weiss, dumbfounded by what she just witnessed, follow closely behind.
"Okay, so maybe your not totally clueless." She told the little red Huntress. She followed Ruby in a direction that Weiss hadn't even considered. Ruby would occasionally drop a few petals on the ground as they went. They continued to walked like that for several more minutes until they ran out of petals. At which point Ruby would hand the basket over to Weiss and refill the basket. At first Weiss was hesitant to go through that experience again but she finally relented after much pleading . After Weiss was done cleaning and smoothing out her hair of petals and other various debris, they kept walking.
Weiss was starting to feel like something was wrong. The lush verdant leaves on the trees that gave the Emerald Forest its name, had changed to a dark and creepy tone. It was like they weren't even in the Emerald Forest anymore. Ruby, as if sending Weiss' trepidation, abruptly stopped in her tracks nearly causing Weiss to crash into her. They both had a worried look on their faces and quickly ran back the way they came. Their path led them back to safety. It was clear that this wasn't the way to go, so they journeyed back to where they started. It seemed simple enough, however, life always seemed to have other things in store.
"Ruby, do the petals that your Semblance creates disappear after a while?" Weiss asked the red hooded Huntress. Ruby only began mumbling and stammering about never testing her Semblance like this before. Weiss was glaring at the trail of rose petals ranging from freshly picked to dead and withered. The black, dead petals were blown into dust by a small breeze that just so happened to be passing through.
"Uh, maybe we can signal for help?" Ruby suggested just before Weiss exploded on her.
"You absolutely, unbelievably, inadequate DUNCE!" Weiss was beyond angry now. She could handle wandering around a forest with a child, she tolerated constantly being showered by debris and even allowed someone who nearly had a panic attack an hour prior to be the temporary leader.
"I didn't know this was going to happen!" Ruby said, she was also growing more agitated as Weiss continued to yell at her. "Its not like I wanted us to get lost. I was just trying to help you make up your mind about which way to go. Besides, you're the one who wanted to leave, I wanted to wait for Ryler!"
"Of course you were trying to help, that's why we're lost in the first place! Every time you try to help, it only makes things worse!"
"Well exuuuuse me, princess! But I thought you wouldn't be able to make it out here, since your butler isn't here and we're not in your castle!" Ruby was starting to walk off in what she thought was the way to their original location.
"I told you already, I was trained by the best Huntress in all of Atlas, I don't need anyone's help out here, least of all yours!" Weiss followed after Ruby.
"Well clearly she isn't that good of a teacher!" Ruby said. Weiss stopped in her tracks, causing Ruby to turn around to gloat over her supposed victory in their argument. The smirk she had on her face was wiped away when she saw that Weiss had drawn her weapon and was now pointing it directly at her.
"Take. That. Back." Weiss spoke in a low tone that anyone would have thought was a growl. Ruby was surprised and was about to back down but something came over her and she did the opposite.
"I would, too bad I won't cause you can't make me." Ruby reacted quickly as Weiss thrust her rapier straight at her face. She side stepped the attack and reached to her back for her scythe. She gripped the handle and used its still retracted form to bat Weiss' sword upward. Weiss tried to recover but wasn't quick enough. Ruby turned her improvised bat at her opponents chest and extended it into its rifle form. The impact was enough to cause the heiress to stumble backwards a little.
Weiss regained her balance after a few steps back and returned to her fighting stance. "I guess I underestimated you. It'll never happen again." Weiss said. There was an incredibly powerful and viscous tension permeating the air around their battlefield. A single movement of their respective weapons could have cut through it and revealed their intense feelings to the world.
They stood there for an eternity, waiting, daring the other to make the first move. The wind blew their hair into their faces but still they held the gaze. Neither would be shown to be the weaker individual, they needed to prove to each other their superiority over the other.
In a flash of speed, they both rushed in at the same time, clashing their weapons against each other. They were locked in a battle of strength, they pushed against each other with their weapons, trying to force the other back. Weiss pulled back suddenly and tried throwing Ruby to the ground, using her own momentum to do so. Ruby moved with the throw and rolled on the ground to counter. She swung her still collapsed scythe backwards to knock Weiss off her feet. She was only a little successful in her attempt. She did connect with the white haired girls legs but it didn't cause Weiss to fall. All it did was anger Weiss further as now she'd have a wicked bruise on her left shin. At least her Aura stopped her from giving her a broken leg.
Weiss kicked her scythe away and took another stab at Ruby, literally. Ruby rolled again to dodge her stabs. She dodged every one of her attacks except the last one when Weiss slashed upwards instead of stabbing downward. Ruby winced when the blade made contact with her side, ripping a hole in her shirt and giving her a long red mark on her waist. Again, had it not be for their Auras, it would have been way worse that a small scratch. Ruby jumped back to her feet and swung her gun widely to keep Weiss from closing in any farther.
They repeatedly dashed at each other in this manner for a while, trading blows and leaving bruises and/or scratches on each other. At one point they stopped because Ruby got some dust in her eye.
"Wait wait wait! Ow!" Ruby cried out rubbing her eyes. Weiss even helped her get it out.
"Stay still Ruby and open your eye as wide as you can." Weiss told her as she held the side of Ruby's head to keep her steady. "Better?" She asked her after she blew the sand out of Ruby's eye. Ruby blinked to rehydrate her dry eye and nodded as she wiped away the excess tears from her face. Weiss walked back to where she was before they stopped. Ruby gave a quick thumbs up and they continued their fight.
After they broke away from another clash, they both waited while they caught their breaths. Both of them looked to be equally beaten and looked like they'd lost a fight against the inside of a wood chipper.
"Not bad... for a child. But you're still... not anywhere near... as good as I am... " Weiss could barely make a coherent sentence from how tired she was.
"I was... going to say... the same thing... to you, Princess." Ruby wasn't doing any better.
They rushed in to attack each other again, intent on finishing the fight with their next attack. They were both ready to end this and continue on their way to find the forest temple. However, the resolution they wanted wouldn't come. They both stopped half way through their strikes because they heard something approaching them. The foliage surrounding them rustled as something moved through them. They stood back to back, ready to take on whatever came through. In one moment, they were both nearly falling over from exhaustion but in the next, they were calm and their breathing was even and steady. Neither of them knew it at the time, but they had became closer to each other through combat and had the exact same thought.
"So she was holding back, I knew it!"
They smiled at each other as a small pack of Beowolves came out of the brush. It was roughly half the size as what Ryler had fought before. Ruby finally extended Crescent Rose to its full size and Weiss reached into her pouch as she opened her Myrtenaster. She pulled out a speed loader holding various small vials of dust and loaded her weapon in an instant. They shared one more look of understanding between each other before rushing off to take down their new common enemy. They unknowingly shared one more thought with each other as they ran into battle: "We'll finish this fight next time."