"SHI-"

It happened in a flash. A jolt rocked my world before I could realize what was happening, and the steel carrying me through the sky folded and crumpled. I was sent tumbling out of the locker from the impact and sprawling across the soft surface of whatever we hit. The rocket pod on the locker must have finally taken too much abuse, because the next thing I knew an explosion left tongues of smoke and fire to lick across my body, especially my neck. A loud piercing sound combined with the bang of the rocket detonating left me beyond disoriented.

I tried to blink my eyes open, all while fumbling my grip on this new surface, but the smoke stung my eyes too much. I felt gravity making me slip, so I scrambled up and across with handfuls of fluff to a point where I felt steady-ish. There was just enough space, so I straddled the surface and rubbed the stinging away from my eyes. Blinking them open with some difficulty, I finally was able to take stock of my situation.

"Hm?" I grunted out, confused.

Two massive red eyes glared from in front of me, both embedded in a stony mass of white that was tilted to look back at me. I froze, gripping handfuls of pitch-black, which registered in my mind as feathers.

'Hehe, the thing almost looks like a Never…more?' My brain flatlined. Shakily, I moved my gaze to make eye contact with the two eyes that were still fixed on me and studied. White mask, two eyes on one side of the head, and a beak. 'God, if you're real, let this all be a bad drea-'

"SSSSCREEEEEAAAAAA!"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The flying Grimm screeched and so did I. I could feel my heartbeat in my head and hear it in my ears, my body shook with each pump. My hand launched towards the grip of Crocea Mors and I ripped it free from my hip, pausing only to scream once more before slamming the tip into the smaller of the two eyes glaring at me. The bone rebounded the thick metal but the eye pulped from the point, squirting liquid that soon smoked away. The Nevermore screeched louder and harder than before, and I could feel the vibration of it through my body. I heard a mighty flap of its wings and we went darting forward fast enough for the wind to distort the skin on my face. I gripped a meaty fistful of feathers and anchored my legs around the birds neck, instinct the only thing keeping me from flying off.

I grit my teeth against the sudden turbulence, and the grip on my hilt tightened even further. I whipped my arm forward again and shouted, this time driving my weapon towards the other large red eye. My body bent and reached with the attack, and finally the tip landed. The eye was pierced, and the force slammed the sword into the birds head all the way to the cross-guard. The bird jolted under me, but otherwise didn't react. I looked to the other side of the head and saw the shiny tip of Crocea Mors sticking out from the opposite eye.

"Right through the brain, then." I muttered. A smile then crossed my face. "Must be dead!"

I looked around the Nevermore, and sure enough I could see the feathers on the edges of the wings were slowly turning to smoke. I breathed a deep sigh of relief at the fact the I had managed to kill the Grimm, a small amount of pride worming into my heart as I turned and saw smoke leaking from the things pierced eyes. I grunted as I yanked Crocea Mors out of the skull and returned it to the scabbard resting on my hip. My chest puffed in pride as I looked forward, seeing the main tower growing closer and closer. However, I squinted when I realized something was off.

"It wasn't that tall a second ago, was it?"

Curiously, I looked down. Immediately, I realized my mistake.

"No, no-no-no!" The ground was growing closer. With the Grimm dead, it can't maintain altitude. In other words, I'm gonna be crash landing this damn thing! "If I knew being a Huntsman would involve so much falling, I WOULD HAVE JUST BEEN A FARMER!"

My complaining reached no one, but made me feel better.

I turned my gaze forward and tilted as far as I could, trying to predict where I'd land. By my estimations, we would land… directly into the side of the building that housed the virtual training center. I groaned at the realization, my eyes threatening to roll into the back of my head as I jerked back and went to work with panic settling in my heart. I gripped my legs around the neck of the giant bird and grabbed two handfuls of feathers and yanked my body one way then the other.

"Move this way! Move over there! MOVE LITERALLY ANY OTHER WAY!"

My attempt was in vain, I didn't have enough weight to manipulate the direction of the bird like I did the locker. I choked down the urge to scream once more as the face of the building raced closer and closer, and instead braced my body against the Nevermore… only for something to happen. The bird gave a massive twitch, its muscles spasming underneath me. I saw something off about our trajectory, and looked back only to see one of its massive wings jolting but slowly retracting to rest against its body while smoke poured from the surface.

I whipped my head back around and saw the world tilt, which made me want to puke… but the bird and I weren't set to splatter against the walls anymore! The joy I felt squashed my motion sickness, and I excitedly looked towards our new landing zone.

"Finally, things are going my way!" I cheered, squinting my eyes because of the wind splashing against my eyelashes. "It can't get any worse! I refuse to believe it!"

I looked in front of the building to its right and saw an open area of concrete and grass, one I labeled as a prime landing pad in my glee. A smile ghosted across my face as I looked at the land sandwiched by buildings and a set of stairs far in the front.

Then, my blood dropped into my stomach like a rock.

A terror-stricken expression was smeared on my face as I noticed a large grouping of figures in white and black identical clothing, all gathered around each other. All of them were standing right in my landing zone!

"I THOUGHT SUPERSTITIONS WERE FAKE! IT REALLY GOT WORSE!" I cursed and shouted for them, hoping the people would hear me and move, but they stayed.

The world around me tilted further and further until it was completely sideways, and finally I gave up and focused everything on my survival. I gripped tight, then prayed. The bird zoomed forward past the building we would have hit, narrowly avoiding a full collision and instead scraping against the side of the building as we rocketed beyond. Its leg must have caught a pillar or something, because the bird jolted and squelched as if something had been ripped off and we were sent tumbling through the air. I screamed as up became down, then left and reset again, and I held onto the neck for all I was worth. We landed hard, I could hear stone shattering and screams as my aura flared to life, but I wasn't hurt. I was launched from my ride though, and sent sailing high through the air.

Quickly, I grabbed Crocea Mors and expanded the shield, holding it out in front of me with all my might as I flipped over again. I was aware enough to catch a glimpse of white before my shield impacted something hard, and I was on the ground almost in an instant.

My bones were shaking as I groaned and heaved out air, and I slowly made it up to my hands and knees. I grabbed my weapon and took a queasy breath, then tried to find out what I hit. I looked beneath me, and I was face to face.

'White mask!'

My immediate thought was Grimm, and I responded as such. I launched back to my feet and brought Crocea Mors to bare, adrenaline still pumping and ready to slash at the monster beneath me… but a moment of observation stopped me in my tracks. The two white masks were more steel-colored, surrounded by black hoods connected to body gloves that were covered by strange white jackets. One of them had large black antlers stretching from underneath the hood, and that made recognition click in my mind.

"White Fang?" I questioned out loud, looking behind me to study my impromptu landing zone for more evidence. "Here at Beacon, of all places?"

The bodies of the group that were in the clearing, now clearly belonging to White Fang, were strewn about everywhere. The entire group had been crushed under the mass of the dead Nevermore. The body of the Grimm seemed to have been pulverized from the crash landing, its wings were crushed and the head facing the wrong way. Smoke poured off it, meaning it must have taken much damage from the fall. I lingered on the bodies of the White Fang, some resting in the deep furrows the Nevermore had carved into the ground.

'I hope they're knocked out. Not…' I couldn't finish the thought, and turned around to see the two I had bulldozed with my shield. The one that didn't have antlers was now turned on his side, groaning and clutching his ribs, allowing me to see the alligator tail he had. A breath of relief left me, seeing them react. 'Small mercies, I guess.'

I rested my shield arm on my side and my blade against my shoulder, giving myself a second to let the adrenaline and insanity of the past few minutes subside.

"H-Holy shit, Jauney-boy!" A wet, coughing voice uttered.

[AN- Pretty good reception for a short chap like that. Thanks, keep it up fellas.]