Chapter 12: The Emerald Forest Part 2

Ryler was flying through the air on his way back to the area that he left Ruby and Weiss. He was still mad at himself that he wasted all that time flying around when he could have just flown up instead. Ryler was over the small clearing they were supposed to be in but they weren't there. It made sense because he told them to keep going the way they had been. He landed so he could follow their path from the ground. That when he saw another, and possibly even worse, problem. He specifically remembered telling them to keep going on the same path, and he made sure they were on an actual path for them to follow. So why were there footprints heading off in a slightly different direction with a tree that looked like it was blown to pieces with the upper half lying on the ground? Ryler just sighed knowing that they deliberately went in the wrong direction.

Ryler was about to run off after them when the trees exploded from behind him. He looked back and his eyes widened from what he saw. He dove out of the way of a rolled up Boarbatusk flying through the air, right at his head. He thought that he was going to have to fight it off but when it hit another tree, it fell to the ground dead. Ryler looked up and saw another Boarbatusk jump out of a bush. This on charges at him but didn't make it very easy before it was killed.

As the boar Grimm ran at Ryler, a red tipped spear came out of the trees at high velocity and struck it between the gaps of its bone armor. The Grimm was dead before it hit the ground. It came to a stop at Ryler's feet after it skidded across the forest floor for a few feet. Ryler reach for the spear and pulled it out of the now disappearing body of the dead boar. Just as he was admiring the weapons' design and craftsmanship, its owner emerged from the trees. Ryler heard the snapping of sticks and looked up to see the one and only, Pyrrha Nikos. She had her shield on her back and pushed a couple of low hanging branches out of the way as she came fully into the clearing. She stopped when she saw Ryler standing there with her weapon.

"Oh, hello, I didn't realize anyone else was in this area." Pyrrha spoke, she stood still with her hands clasped in front of her. She stood tall with her back straight and head held high. She was the definition of poise and respect. Ryler was sure she was feeling really awkward at the moment but was able to maintain her composure. The small, almost unnoticeable, details in her posture have it all away. Her hands were clenched a little too hard, she shifted her footing very slightly where she stood, her smile seemed a little forced and although she maintained eye contact, she was very clearly glancing away from time to time.

"Hey, you're Pyrrha, right?" Ryler asked. She seemed to calm down a little and he could see her shoulders release some of the tension they held. He didn't want her to feel like she had to put on her Mistralian Champion facade around him, He wanted them to be friends.

"Yes, I am, it's nice to meet you. May I please have my weapon back?" She asked him. Ryler walked over to her and handed back her spear, which she promptly turned into its Xiphos form and placed it on her back with her shield.

"That's a really well crafted weapon, did you make it yourself?" Ryler asked to try and break the last bit of tension left in the air. It seemed to worked because Pyrrha was now visibly relaxed. She smiled at Ryler complimenting her Milo.

"Yes, although I did receive some help from a really talented weapon smith during its assembly." She said. She looked like she was remembering something fondly. She blinked a couple times to get her mind back to reality. "So..." Pyrrha started but seemed to be hesitant to finish.

Ryler knew what she wanted to ask him and decided to help her out.

"Do you want to know if I already have a partner?" Ryler asked her, she nodded as her face turned a cute shade of red from the embarrassment of the situation. "Yeah, sorry I do actually, but I know someone who doesn't. She's with my partner at the moment and I was just about to make my way to them. Would you like to join me?"

Pyrrha was a little stunned by his question. He wasn't scared of her, he wasn't nervous around her, he didn't treat her like someone who was too important to speak to and he didn't seem to look at her like she was a priceless artifact meant to be in a museum. She felt like he was talking to one of his friends going out to get drinks. She felt like a normal girl. She smiled at his kind offer and gladly accepted.

"I would be honored to join you."

Ryler couldn't help but to return the smile that she gave him. He moved his right hand behind his back as subtly as he could. It glowed blue and the world around them slowed to a crawl. Ryler's smile changed to a look of shock.

Ryler used his powers to make a headlight copy of himself and began yelling at it.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING YOU IDIOT? THAT'S PYRRHA NIKOS! she belongs with JAUNE AND IF YOU'RE NOT CAREFUL SHE'S GOING TO FALL FOR YOU INSTEAD!" Ryler was pacing back and forth trying to come up with a plan for how he should act around Pyrrha.

"Okay, calm down. You can still treat her like an average teenager like she wants and not make her fall for you. You just have to..." Ryler's calm voice dropped off and his irrational side came back.

"Who are you trying to fool. She craves the idea of being normal! If she fell in love with an idiot like Jaune then she's for sure going to for you, you idiot!"

"You don't have to insult me, it was a mistake that we can fix. Just don't give her the idea that your interested in her."

"Jaune did that and it didn't work for him, what makes you think it'll work for you?"

"Good point, what if we keep calling her friend all the time so she really get the point?"

"Again, Jaune did that too."

"Oh, I got it! We'll keep dropping hints that we're gay!"

"That'll never work! At most we're Bi, this is such a mess." Irrational Ryler was getting even more annoyed and was now rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Look, we don't know what will happen. This world isn't like the show! It'll be different, we just have to do our best." Rational Ryler was walking back to his place as he dispelled his headlight stand in.

"You better be right about that." IR said as they got back in their position. Ryler released his hold on time and everything returned back to normal.

"Okay, I think they went this way, I didn't leave them alone for very long so they shouldn't be too far from here." Ryler said, he acted like his little fit of panicking had never even happened. He moved toward the tree and noted that is was pretty much in the direction of the temple ruins.

"One of them probably figured out the right way to go without me, I guess I didn't have to worry about them after all." Ryler thought to himself.

Ryler and Pyrrha began walking into the woods to find their partners. Ryler thought this was the right way to go, never knowing his mistake. To the left of the clearing, about ten feet inwards, lay a lone fallen tree. It appeared to have been cut cleanly in half by a large blade.

Pyrrha was following behind Ryler as they walked through the forest. She wondered where she had seen him before. She thought that maybe he was someone she had fought in one of the many tournaments she's participated in but she felt She had seen him more recently that that. She finally worked up the courage to talk to him about it. She was a few feet behind him but quickly jogged up to walk beside him.

"So, have we met before?" Pyrrha asked. Ryler knew she had to have seen him having a panic attack back in the locker rooms. He could tell her the truth and be done with it quickly.

"Like a Bandaid and all that..." Ryler thought to himself.

"Nope, I don't think so. This is the first time we've ever spoken." Ryler said while trying to be calm and not at all suspicious. He already had Weiss seeing him as "the guy freaking out in the locker room" and didn't want Pyrrha to look at him the same way.

"I'm pretty sure we have met somewhere before, were you in the 31st Mistral Regional Tournament?" Pyrrha had her hand held to her chin as she continued to walk with him. Ryler was becoming more and more nervous as she continued to press the issue.

"No, I've never been to Mistral before but I hear it's a great place to visit." Ryler said hoping to get her attention away from him and into something else.

"Oh yes, it's incredibly beautiful. I recommend you visit during the fall, you'll get to see the leaves change and it's incredibly beautiful." Pyrrha said, she seemed to forget about him and was now reminiscing about her home. "Its my favorite part of living in Argus. I would always sneak away from training to go explore in the forest nearby." Pyrrha sighed as she remembered her childhood. The small smile that had formed as she was talking about her hometown faded as she seemed to remember something else. Her eyes darkened and she looked ahead with a slight frown. Ryler felt bad, if he hadn't redirected her focus from himself them she would still be smiling.

"I had a bit of a panic attack in the locker room, maybe that's where you remember seeing me." He saw her perk up again. She took a second to piece together what he meant but it wasn't long before she did and turned to look straight ahead to avoid eye contact.

"Oh, are you okay now?" Pyrrha asked him. Ryler knew that she knew that he admitted that just so she would forget about what she remembered. The grateful look in her eye told him as much.

"Yeah, just the average, everyday existential crisis. No big deal" Ryler said which made Pyrrha chuckle a bit. He felt the awkward tension that had been lingering between them start to face away. They continued to walk for several minutes while they continued chatting. They were getting along pretty well. Ryler liked that he was able to make friends with her so easily, he might have even considered trading Weiss out and having Pyrrha be his partner. But he'd never actually do that...

Ryler was happy that they only ran into a few Grimm and not any that were very strong. He didn't like what that meant for the near future. For example, Ryler saw that they were walking towards a cave. A cave with very distinct warnings against entering. There was only one thing to do.

"Ryler, what are you doing?" Pyrrha asked. She was nervous because she also saw the markings on the outside of the cave entrance. Ryler walked up to the entrance and picked up a small stone. It was about the size of a golf ball.

"I'm maintaining continuity." He muttered under his breath.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Pyrrha asked him.

"I'm making sure we're safe in this area, the last thing we need is something big sneaking up on us. Also, be prepared to run." He said louder so she heard him. He took the stone and set it on the ground in front of him. He held out his hand and made a golf club appear using his headlight skill. He set up his swing and launched the stone into the cave at high velocity. They waited for a few seconds just listening for any sounds coming from the cave. There was nothing, it seemed that there was no Deathstalker waiting for them.

"I don't believe there is anything inside." Pyrrha said as she walked over to the entrance to look over the paintings on the outside. She ran her hand over them as she studied each individual image of a person fighting off a giant scorpion. Ryler agreed that there probably wasn't anything in there. If there was then it would have come crashing out of the cave right about now.

The cave exploded outward throwing both him and Pyrrha to the ground. He groaned as he got back up to his feet, Pyrrha doing the same. "I hate being right at times like this." He thought to himself. He extended his arm shields and prepared to attack the massive creature. Pyrrha stopped him by holding out her hand in front of him.

"No, it too strong for just us. We need to run!" She said as she began running away from the thing. Ryler wasn't far behind her. He heard the Deathstalker screech and a loud crashing sound as it began knocking over trees as it chased after the two. Ryler formed his wings and began flying just above Pyrrha. He flew ahead and lowered his right leg just a little.

"Grab on!" He told her. She wrapped both her arms around his leg and he started gaining altitude. They hadn't realized that it was slowly gaining on them. It was now close enough for it to strike at them with its stinger. It managed to hit the back of Ryler's suit, damaging the main thrusters. Ryler lurched forward unexpectedly from the hit which caused Pyrrha to lose her grip on his boot. She rolled in the ground and kept running. She saw that he had lost control and began flying erratically. He tried to keep himself low and leveled but a quick glance to either side show his wings flickering in and out.

"I can't stop!" He yelled to Pyrrha. She reached up to him and used her Semblance to help stabilize him. She tried to affect his whole suit with her Semblance but with having to continue running for her life, she was only able to hold on to a small part. She pulled down to help bring him back to stable ground but ended up pulling on the chest compartment that housed the dust used to power the suit. The two blue crystals fell out of their slots and landed on the ground. Pyrrha managed to dodge them both, which was a good thing since a second later the exploded into a giant ball of ice spikes. The Deathstalker had been directly over it so now it was trapped. It wouldn't last very long as it was already cracking the spikes to get itself free.

Ryler fell to the ground and, for the second time that day, landed face first in the dirt. He was helped up by Pyrrha but he quickly pushed her away. He felt the fire dust growing more and more unstable. It was already burning a hole through his suit and he could feel it start to burn through his under suit as well. He quickly broke off the straps holding his chest plate in place and ran over to the nearly free Grimm. Pyrrha saw what he was planning and continued running away from the Deathstalker.

Ryler threw the chest plate at the Grimm but just as it landed the Deathstalker broke free. It quickly grabbed him by the leg and held him up above itself, planning to kill him with its stinger. Ryler looked down at the chest plate and covered his arms over his face. Just as the Grimm thrust its stinger at him, the fire crystals erupted in a massive be explosion. The Grimm was knocked away while at the same time it released him from its grasp. The blast was strong enough to send him flying through the air.

Ryler tumbled through the air. He was dazed and couldn't get his bearings, he saw quick flashes of the ground and sky, green and blue, red and black. His unplanned flight was brought to an abrupt end when he crashed into something hard but somehow still soft.

"Ugh, what was that...?"

Ryler heard a very familiar voice say out loud. He shook his head to clear it of the stars he was seeing. Looking around his new surroundings told him the entire story. At the moment he was hanging from a tree branch upside down. Ruby was sat against the tree on another branch below him. He looked down, or up at the moment, an saw that his boot straps were caught up on the branch. He reach for the tree limb trying to free himself but he couldn't quite get them loose enough. The entire time he was hearing explosions and shouting and even some singing.

"Ryler! Are you okay!?" He could hear Pyrrha calling out to him. Looking in the direction that he heard her voice, he saw a very angry arachnid chasing after her. He needed to help her but he was still stuck, he looked back at Ruby to ask her for help but she already jumped out of the tree. He let out a sigh and kept trying to free himself. Eventually, he was able to break the branches holding him in place by kicking them enough time with his free foot. He landed on his back on the same branch that Ruby had been on. He sat there for a while to get the last of the sticks and leaves out of the side of his boot.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! CAN EVERYBODY JUST CHILL OUT FOR TWO SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS AGAIN?" Yang was clearly over the entire situation. Seeing that outburst was about the same as you'd expect it to be, overly dramatic.

"Not gonna happen!" Ryler shouted as he pointed up into the air to show them all a Giant Nevermore with a certain white haired heiress hanging from one of its enormous talons. She couldn't keep her hold on it and began falling to the ground. He jump from the tree, using his Semblance to create a concentrated burst of light shoot from his hands and feet. This was enough to propel him high into the air where he was able to catch Weiss in his arms.

"Look at this, the first snowfall of the year, I must be a lucky guy." Ryler, holding Weiss in his arms bridal style, fell to the ground. Just before he was about to land, he use the same light burst to slow his decent enough so he didn't break his legs. He look down to see Weiss glaring at him.

"First of all, don't ever make a joke like that again." Ryler just chuckled at that, fully expecting her to say that. " Second, will you put me down already?" She started to struggle in his arms. He quickly set he down back on her feet. She brushed of any dirt on her dress before looking back at Ryler. "Third, thanks." Weiss was now avoiding eye contact with Ryler. He could see a faint blush forming on her face.

"No problem, but now I think someone else needs my help." Ryler told Weiss. He then ran to intercept Pyrrha as she was hit by the giant claws of the Deathstalker. He was able to catch her and skidded to a stop in front of the others. He stood her back on her and she thanked him.

"Great, the gangs all here, now we can die together." Yang said in the usual sarcastic tone.

"Really Yang, kinda dramatic don't you think?" Ryler raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah sis, that was kind of dark." Ruby said, Yang just saved the comments aside. Ryler saw Ruby looking at the Deathstalker, he knew what was coming next and wondered if he should intervene. "Besides, we're not going to die, not if I can help it." Ruby extended her Crescent Rose to its full size and charged at the scorpion Grimm. She dodged its claws and dashed around to its left side. She saw that this Deathstalker was injured, it's bone armor was cracked and scorched. Two of its legs were burnt but still seemed strong enough to crack a boulder. She fired several times at the joints connecting the legs to its body. It screeched in pain from the bullets further cracking its armor.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was watching as Ruby tried to take on the giant creature by herself. "That idiot is going to get herself killed!" Ryler thought to himself. He was trying to think of a plan to help her, he looked at everyone around before speaking.

"Weiss, you're the fastest, get her out of there. Yang and N... Uh, Grenade Girl, flank it's sides." Ryler was hoping no one noticed his near slip up while getting his plan laid out. He wasn't sure if he had been told Nora's name and didn't want to risk it in case he hadn't. "Once you do, aim for the joints, you don't have to take it out, you just have to take it down." Ryler continued. They nodded at his plan and all three of them rushed into the fight.

"And what do we do?" Pyrrha asked him from behind, Blake and Ren were standing beside her. They all had their weapons out and seemed ready for some action as well. Ryler also felt like getting into a fight but first, there was something more important to take care of.

He looked directly at Pyrrha and spoke to her. "First, we get our artifacts." She nodded and they went over and grabbed a chess piece. Pyrrha grabbed the white took and Ryler took was about to pick up his piece before he was interrupted. He heard the sound of wings flapping and was tackled out of the way of several large black feathers. The temple ruins were ruined even further and the artifacts were thrown all around the area. He looked back at Blake and Ren and saw them firing at the flying beast. Pyrrha, who had been on top of Ryler after she tackled him out of the path of the feathers, rolled off and also began firing her rifle while lying on her back. The combined efforts of the three was enough to anger it even more. It flew away a little before it turned back in their direction and came in low to grab them with its talons. They managed to avoid its grasp but it then landed right on top of the ruins, destroying anything that was left standing.

"I think it's about time we left." He heard Ren say from behind him. He would have agreed but he hadn't grabbed an artifact yet. He looked around the area and saw one on the ground in front of him. He ran forward to grab it but was stopped by the Nevermore as it tried picking him off with its beak. He tried again once more but again it stopped him. Pyrrha pulled him away from the giant bird and began running toward the others to regroup and get out of there. Ryler wanted to resist, he wanted to keep trying to get the piece but he knew it was suicide. This was likely the end of his and Weiss' time at Beacon. He hated that he had to run but knowing that Weiss wouldn't be able to attend Beacon because of him was worse.

Both halves of the group met up and they all ran off. They made their way to the cliffs where they would have their epic battle. Everyone was hiding behind half collapsed pillars. The Nevermore was circling above them. They could hear the distant sounds of the Deathstalker coming through the trees. The Nevermore landed on the ruins closest to the cliffs, it screeched at them just as the Deathstalker broke through the rest of the trees blocking it from its prey. The whole group sprang into action, Nora distracted the Nevermore by shooting it in the face with her grenades. Blake and Ren protected her by keeping the Deathstalker too busy to grab her with its claws. Weiss was about to pull Nora out of there and to relative safety but the Deathstalker stabbed at them with its tail. It was aiming for Nora and would've hit its mark had it not been for Ryler.

Ryler saw the tail going to them and stepped in front to block it. He quickly made his arm shields appear and brought them together in front of him. They connected together and extended into an even larger form. Where once they were small and could block attacks while still maintaining mobility, now it was a true shield and resembled something a soldier from ancient Rome would use. The tall rectangular shield was curved to better protect the wielder and was tall enough to cover most of Ryler's body, minus his head, if it rested on the ground. Ryler deflected the tail into the ground where it was now stuck. Weiss and Nora jumped away to the edge of the bridge that the others were about to cross.

"Go! Go!" Pyrrha shouted as she stopped to fire at the Grimm chasing after them. Ren and Blake stopped with her and also fired at the creature. They did a good job at keeping it off balance, enough to where it couldn't focus on navigating the narrow bridge without risking a long drop into the chasm below. Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Nora and Ryler were crossing the bridge when Ryler saw the Nevermore coming in to crash into the bridge.

"Watch- !" Ryler tried to warn the others about the attack but he was cut off when the bridge was demolished and he was sent tumbling into one of the still intact halves. He was on the side with the Deathstalker. He stood back up and was about to join the fight when Nora came sailing over him. She slammed her hammer into the back of the Deathstalker and it retaliated by trying to stab her with its tail. She blocked it with the hilt of her weapon but was thrown into Blake. Blake was sent crashing into Ryler and the were both sent over the edge. Ryler reached out and she did as well. They grabbed each other's hands and held on tight. Blake used their momentum and her weapon to swing them back upward. Ryler let go just before they reached the Nevermore as it flew by. Blake landed on top of it and slashes at its back a couple times with her katana while Ryler changed his shield back into the arm variants and then again into claws. He grabbed onto the underside of the Grimm and began clawing at it until it rolled to get him off. It worked and he was sent crashing into the ruins.

"Ow, okay, note to self, don't ever try that again." He said out loud as he was standing back up. He heard and felt a rush of wind and felt a pair of hands helping him back to his feet.

"Are you okay? That looked like it hurt... a lot." Ruby told him as he stood back up fully.

"Yeah, it did. It's not that bad though" Ryler said as he was now rolling his shoulder and stretching his arms.

"Really?" Ruby asked more out of disbelief that anything else.

"Yeah, it got the kink out of my shoulder. Now I think I want to say thank you properly." Ryler told her as he cracked his knuckles. He looked up at it while it circled above them then he looked back down at Ruby and said, "I think we've got this one handled, go help your new partner take care of Eight Legged and Angry over there." Ruby looked to where Pyrrha, Nora and Ren were fighting against the Deathstalker. She nodded at Ryler and dashed off to join them.

Ruby landed behind them and started to think of a way to kill it. She noticed that it was limping a little whenever it moved side to side. She then saw the damaged legs and bone on its left side. She knew exactly how to take it down.

"Pyrrha, you and um, I'm sorry what your name again?" She said. Nobody expected to hear that in the middle of a battle but did their best to focus on taking down the Deathstalker. Ren knew she was talking to him and decided to give a quick introduction.

"My name is Lie Ren, or just Ren, and that's Nora Valkyrie." Nora have a quick wave as she batted away a claw. Ruby smiled, now that she knew everybody's name she could finally put her plan into action.

"Pyrrha and Ren, keep it distracted. Nora, grab on." Ruby held out her and and Nora took it. Pyrrha and Ren rushed in a little closer to take up more of its vision and keep It busy. Ruby pulled Nora off the edge of the broken bridge and used her Semblance to turn into swirl of red and pink petals. They flew a little ways to the side of the battle, using the drop off to hide them as they moved. They reformed on the Deathstalker's left. Nora saw the damage and knew what she had to do.

"Fire when I give the signal." Ruby told Nora before she zoomed off again. She used the cliff to hide her movement again and reformed on the opposite side. When she was back, she noticed that Ren was holding onto the tail and firing into it. It shook him off and he went flying into one of the many pillars still standing. Ruby winced from seeing the impact. She was about to rush off to help him but saw that he was trying to stand back up. She took that as a good sign and refocused on her plan. She saw how the Deathstalker's stinger was hanging limp and was barely holding on. Perfect.

"Pyrrha, Tail!" Ruby shouted, Pyrrha had been alone trying to face off against the thing. Even she was having a tough time keeping it back but when she heard Ruby shouting out to her she realized what she had to do. She jumped back and threw her shield at the tail. Ruby jumped into action at the same time and rushed right at the stinger. It's stinger was cut off completely and Ruby used her speed to kick it at Nora. Nora got the signal and, using her hammer, batted the severed stinger back right at the side of the Deathstalker. It pierced the damaged bone plate like a needle through fabric. It screamed in pain as it was struck by its own stinger and began lashing out at everything. It hit the bridge and made it begin to fall into the chasm. Ruby used her Semblance to catch Pyrrha before she fell with it and landed behind the dying scorpion. Nora had already rushed off to help Ren and was now walking back with his arm over her shoulders. They watched as the giant Grimm stumbled around before it took one step too far and fell of the edge of the cliff.

They all shared a collective sigh but before they could relate they heard a large explosion and saw the Nevermore pinned up against the cliff wall, a large hole now in place of its chest. That wasn't the only thing that was different now. It's head was missing and most of its feathers were burnt off. It looked like it was hit with the force of the sun. It was insane to think that a first year student could do something like that.

...

Earlier.

Ryler watched as Ruby rushed off to help the others. He then refocused on his own problem. He blast jumped up to the pillars where the others were waiting. They waited as it still circled above them. It was too far to try attacking it just yet. Ryler looked to Blake and asked her what it was like when she was on top of it.

"Its feather are tough, I don't think I did any damage to it when I was up there. It's also a lot faster than it looks, overall, this is going to be a hard battle." Ryler pretty much expected all that. He just smiled at the assessment .

"A hard battle but still not impossible." Weiss chimed in Ryler agreed and nodded at her.

"Exactly, and there's only one thing to do." Ryler said as everyone prepared for the coming fight. Yang reloaded her gauntlets, Blake shifted her weapon into its gun form, Weiss made sure she had enough dust in her rapier to last the battle and Ryler made a ball of condensed light appear in each of his hands. Even the Nevermore seemed to know the battle was about to start as it descended and flew out farther away from them to get a running start.

"We hit it with everything we got!" Yang said and all four launched their attacks at the charging form of the Nevermore.

Yang had loaded her gauntlets with projectile rounds and shot several at its head. Blake shot at it with fire dust rounds. Weiss threw multiple ice attacks at the giant bird while Ryler threw the light orbs at it. Yang's and Ryler's attacks caused explosions to go off as they impacted the body of the Grimm. One wing was catching fire in some places while the other wing was freezing over. It wasn't enough to stop it and everyone was forced to find stable ground as it slammed into the supporting pillars. The debris that was once a set of ruins rained down over them. Everyone did their best to avoid being caught in the wake of the wall of destruction.

Ryler, using a combination of his claws and his Light Burst, was able to make it back to the top. He saw Yang blast herself up onto another section of the still intact structure. She didn't waste anytime in going up higher to get a better position to continue firing upon the Nevermore. He saw Blake swing up using her indestructible ribbon, he was reminded of how they had originally defeated the bird. "If it ain't broke..." Ryler thought it himself.

At that same moment, Weiss landed beside him. "None of our attacks are even making a scratch. We need to think of something else." She said, Ryler just smiled at her.

"Funny you should say that, I just came up with a plan. I'll ask Yang to try and redirect it into the cliffs. Once it hits, freeze it in place and meet up with us near those two large pillars in the center." Ryler said as he ran off toward Blake who was shooting at the Grimm from the center of the platform. "Hey, Blake right? How strong is that ribbon attached to your weapon?"

Blake was a little puzzled by the question but not for very long. She shook her head and gave her answer, "It's infused with Gravity Dust, so it's very strong. Why?" Ryler wasn't at all surprised to hear that the ribbon was infused with Dust. it made sense why it was so strong and seemed to be impervious to damage.

"I'm going to launch a giant bullet at that thing and that is the perfect launching mechanism." Ryler jumped out of the way as the Nevermore came in for a sweeping attack. It flew low enough to drag its talons against the stone surface in an attempt to snatch one of the up. Ryler rolled as he hit the ground and threw a couple of Light Orbs at the thing as it flew back into the air.

"You guys okay down there?" Yang asked from her place on top of one of the two large pillars in the center of the ruins that were still standing. Ryler just gave her a thumbs up from where he lay. He jumped back up to his feet and saw that Blake was standing at the base of the other pillar with Weiss next to her. He took that chance to relay his plan to Yang. He made the jump to the top and grabbed onto the edge with his claws keeping him from falling back down. Yang heard him grabbed on and looked down.

"Yang, we gotta reroute that thing into the cliff wall. I have a plan and it'll only work if that thing's back is against the wall." Ryler told Yang. Yang just smiled at him and said, "Leave that to me."

Ryler jumped down to stand in between the two pillars. He heard Yang letting loose a barrage of projectiles gauntlets. It was enough to get its attention and flew right at her. It opened its mouth to try and swallow her whole. Yang wasn't going to go down that easily. She landed in its mouth and held it open with one hand, using the other to blast the inside of its mouth with several shots at point blank range. The Nevermore screamed out in anger and pain. It was disoriented and flying blind. Unfortunately,it wasn't heading toward the cliffs like he had hoped it would. Ryler formed a larger than normal Light Orb, he saw Yang jump out of its mouth and threw it at the Grimm. The orb flew just to the left of its head where it detonated. The blast was strong enough to change its course, making it hard straight at the cliff wall.

As soon as it hit, Weiss was off in an instant. She used her Glyphs to speed herself up and reach her target before it was able to get back into the air. Weiss used every ounce of Ice Dust in her weapon to freeze the Nevermore to the ruins below its feet. The Nevermore was stuck, but it was desperately pecking at the the cold prison, trying to free itself. The ice wouldn't hold for much longer.

Meanwhile, Yang had returned to the others and asked what the next step of the plan was. Ryler responded with, "Make a slingshot with these pillars and Blake's ribbon." They didn't hesitate for a second and jumped into the pillars near the top. Blake threw her weapon to Yang while she secure the loose end of her ribbon to the structure. Blake chose that time to voice a question.a

"You said you were going to launch a giant bullet at it, what exactly are you planning to launch?" Ryler just responded by focusing his Semblance to encase each of his legs in Hardlight. Before it reached his waist, he reached into one of his pouches and pulled out an Ice Dust Crystal and a Fire Dust Crystal. He saw Weiss rushing back to them and chose that time to act. He ran forward a few feet before he doubled back and jumped into the center of the ribbon. At the same time, Weiss caught him in one of her Glyphs and held him there. She stood off to the side as he kept encasing himself in light.

"Of course someone as insane as you would come up with a plan like this. Where did you even get the idea ?" Weiss asked as the light was reaching his shoulder now.

"I saw it in this show a friend of mine used to watch all the time. It worked then, so I thought I'd give it a try." The light was now forming over his head into a point and a ball of light formed at his feet. He looked out of the giant crystal he was inside of and shouted out to Weiss.

"Don't miss!" Weiss smirked and changed her Glyph to launch Ryler directly at the nearly freed Nevermore. Ryler activated the two Dust Crystals in his hands. The Light Chrysalis surrounding him changed colors to match both Crystals in his hands. Light blue on the left and red on the right. Just before he was going to hit the Grimm, he detonated the Light Burst behind him and hit the Nevermore with an even greater force. The Light Chrysalis exploded into a thousand shards. The thousands of tiny shards embedded themselves into the body and wings of the Grimm. Ryler stood in the center of the giant hole that was left after the Light Chrysalis exploded. He looked back down at the valley below where all of his new friends stood. He had just completed the first step on his journey to becoming a Huntsman.

Wow, this is way late. Writers block, combined with rewriting one of the most epic scenes in all of Rwby did not end very well. Nothing felt up to par for this chapter and I wasn't happy with anything I came up with. I have an even greater respect for Monty now for making it look so easy. Anyway, I hope the longer chapter makes up for the late update. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to pass out for the next 8-10 hours.