It's a shame Monster Hunter doesn't get much crossover with RWBY.
A further shame that I had difficulty writing this story halfway. Anyway, let me know your thoughts.
EDIT: Fixed Stygian Zinogre's behavior/habitats. Sorry about that.
Chapter 1:
Snow gently fell onto the brim of a lavish dark blue hat belonging to a Hunter as he and his Palico scour through the Tundra region of the Guiding Lands in search of their target: A fearsome subspecies of Fanged Wyvern called Stygian Zinogre.
The Guiding Lands is a complex ecosystem consisting of multiple and vastly differing regions. Monsters of all kinds gather in the region due to habitable environments and climate along with plentiful food. The rich bioenergy produced further increases the vitality of all ecological life in the region, making them more dangerous than the ones found in their typical habitats.
It is an unnatural region that's been reshaped and inhabited by a dangerous Elder Dragon.
But for now, their only concern is locating and eliminating the dangerous subspecies that's been sighted within these mysterious lands.
"Look meowster! The scoutflies found a track!" The Palico, Mateo, is a brown and gray furred felyne dressed in a miniature Velkhana set of armor and wields a crystalized lance.
The cat-like creature waddles over with his master and inspects the track. Glowing green insects flies out of a small cage tagged to the Hunter belt and swarms around strands of long fur of white and black. The strands of fur pulsate with red electricity with some Dracophage Bugs still crawling around it.
A young man in his early twenties leans down onto the ground and gently scoops up the tracks, storing them away for the Ecological Research team to examine.
"It belongs to a Stygian Zinogre alright. I was starting to think we've arrived too late." The master Hunter, known as the Brigadier, brushes the snow off his hat and Brigade uniform. He reaffixes his slinger and insect glaive, breaking into a run to follow the scoutflies. "Let's hurry before it leaves the area."
Once they track down the Zinogre subspecies, they are authorized by the Research Commission to neutralize the monster; either by capturing, or killing it.
Just another typical hunt for the Brigadier and his Palico.
/-/
"So, here we are again."
A blond boy name Jaune Arc sighs at the unpleasant memories he had in this forest.
Three teams of Huntsmen in training; Team RWBY, JNPR, and CFVY, march through the beautiful crimson forest that is known as Forever Fall due to the crimson leaves constantly shedding from the trees. The tress also produces red saps, which they are here to collect and is also something Jaune is allergic to.
"It's always been such a pleasure!" A short orange-hair girl name Nora Valkyrie cheekily sang out loud.
Another boy with black hair and pink stripes name Lie Ren placed a hand over his partner's mouth before she can continue the song.
"Let's be more subtle about collecting red sap for Professor Peach this time."
"You guys are really never dull." A girl wearing a black beret with aviator sunglasses grins widely and turns to another group on her right. "You too, Team RWBY. You're all a fun bunch, not like my teammates."
A beautiful blond girl name Yang Xiao Long gave her a thumbs up while the rest of Team RWBY looks away in partial shame.
"We do not like to cause much ruckus, Coco." One of Coco's teammates, a large fellow name Yatsuhashi Daichi, shakes his head and balances the stack of containers he carried in his arms. He then glances at his partner, a timid rabbit faunus name Velvet Scarlatina. "Unless it's a necessity, like one of our own being bullied."
Velvet shakes her head, "What you guys did to Team CDRL was completely unnecessary."
"It was well deserved."
Nearly everyone present nodded in agreement much to Velvet's exasperation.
"How much sap are we collecting today?" A young girl named Ruby Rose asks her frosty-looking partner, Weiss Schnee.
The white-hair girl shoots her an accusing glance, clearly not amused by her team leader's inattentiveness to the assignment handed to them. All Ruby could do was smile nervously and shrugs.
Weiss sighs and pinches her forehead. "At least twelve jars per team."
"That shouldn't be too hard."
"It'll take longer if Nora doesn't eat all the red sap we collected." A red-hair girl named Pyrrha Nikos smiles brightly at the girl in question who shivers and shrinks behind Ren.
"Well, we should start collecting red saps then if we want to finish his quickly." Coco pauses and slyly looks at her teammates. "Unless… You guys want to practice for the Vytal Festival while we're at it."
"Killing Grimm isn't the same as sparring." A cat faunus girl name Blake Belladonna points out, "I think we'll get more out of a sparring match between teams than Grimm."
The Creatures of Grimm are dangerous and mysterious monsters that inhabit various parts of their world, Remnant. Since the beginning, they pose a constant threat to mankind and will relentlessly attack anybody for no reason other than to kill and destroy. The fact that their corpses disintegrate upon death makes it even difficult to understand what they really are.
"Blake's got a good point." Said Yang, "Besides, the Grimm are boring to fight sometimes. Sure, you'll have a hard time fighting bigger Grimm like that giant Nevermore we fought during our Initiation, but it's nothing like fighting a real person."
"Eh, fair enough. Just wondering if you all want to, you know… Let lose some stress and whatnot. It's not like we're on a time limit or anything."
Her partner, Fox Alistair, a blind and tanned individual with copper hair; knew what she was trying to do. "You just want to shoot things and make them explode."
"Yeah, I do."
"I love explosions!" Nora jumps up and down excitedly, unfurling her hammer that also functions as a grenade launcher. "Somewhere alongside my love for pancakes!"
Yang laughs and hits her first together, activating her dual-ranged shot gauntlets. "When you put it like that, I gotta love some big booms."
The more rational Huntsmen and Huntresses in training all let out a collective sigh. It can't be helped. With the Vytal Festival coming around the corner, every student is brimming with excitement to see and participate in the biennial event that's showcased internationally. Only the best teams can compete in the Vytal Festival tournaments, and among the selective few; Team RWBY, JNPR, and CFVY are all contestants.
They're all nervous and excited, eager to wreak havoc at everything in their wake to tone down their stress.
On the bright side, they can rely on their more brash teammates to fend off the Grimm while they work to collect the red saps from the trees.
/-/
Their tracking of the Stygian Zinogre leads them straight down to the Volcanic Region, far from the Tundra Region. Although it is to be noted that it's not unusual for a Stygian Zinogre to be outside their 'typical' habitats because of this. Stygian Zinogres are often found in extreme environments where food is scarce, hence their aggressive and nomadic behaviors.
However, this chase has taken an unexpected turn. A literal unexpected turn.
"This is strange." The Brigadier muses to himself, inspecting the scratch marks made by the monster they're tracking. "I do not recall any crystalized tunnel being in the Volcanic Region."
A white sheen of numerous crystal formation tunnels deep into the dull walls of the molten underground cavern. It's reminiscent of the Elder's Recess in a jarring way.
The Elder's Recess is a place where molten lava constantly flows, and crystal structures grow due to the many bioenergy of monsters that had died in the land. It is a place where powerful monsters like Elder Dragons are attracted to and to the Brigadier's knowledge, there shouldn't be another Elder's Recess in the Guiding Lands. The land itself is already a beacon for dangerous monsters to converge to.
"It's like when we first stumble across the Elder's Recess." Mateo gently pokes at one of the protruding crystals with his little paw. "A lot of pawer coming from it!"
The Brigadier puts a hand onto the crystal, feeling raw energy flowing through his gloves. "It's pure… But not too pure like the ones we've found before."
He got to his feet and narrows his eyes, weighing his option. Should he continue and explore the newly found path in the pursuit of his target, or return to base and report his finding? His handler and the Research Commission will want to know about this, but at the same time, he felt compelled to press forth.
The Brigadier decided to go for the best of both worlds and whistles for a wingdrake to deliver a short note. He ties it to the wingdrake's leg and waves it away so it could deliver his message to the camp.
"Let's go, Mateo. We'll be the first to discover what's ahead of us."
"I can't wait!"
Both the Hunter and his Palico venture into the crystal tunnel. Tracks and markings of their target were highlighted by the scoutflies, furthering their progress in hunting down the Stygian Zinogre that had evaded them for too long now.
As they continue down the unnatural corridor, they pause to collect a few chunks of crystalized bioenergy that were scattered around a curvature. It looked like the Stygian Zinogre forced its way through one of the narrower pathways. There were also several smaller claw marks made by another monster that he's not familiar with.
"It looked like it was chasing something." The Brigadier muses, studying the new tracks while his scoutflies swarm around it.
"Found something for you, meowster!" His Palico waddles over to him bearing a small load of crystals.
"Thank you." He pats his little companion on the head and stores the crystal Mateo collected into his pouch.
Soon, they found the light at the end of the tunnel. A rather bleakly lit lighting compared to the shining crystals that surround them. Exiting the passage, they found themselves in a large cave with the entrance half a hundred meters away.
"Meowster! Look at this!" Mateo lifts up a glowing yellow crystal that's emitting tints of electricity. "I've never seen a purrty crystal that has lightning in it!"
The Brigadier carefully handled the electrifying crystal, watching webs of lightning dissipate on his glove. "Me neither. It has a strange elemental energy to it…"
He wasn't sure how to safely handle the volatile-looking object but settled for wrapping it in a smooth cloth and stored it away for future inspection.
"The air smells different."
"Does it?"
Mateo removes his little helmet. His whiskers twitch as he smells the air and nods. "Nya! It smells weird. I can't explain, but there's a weird smell outside!"
"I see." The Brigadier observes his scoutflies hovering towards the direction of the cave's entrance and followed the makeshift trail the insects were making.
Before them stands numerous red leaf trees with an overbearing sun that shines brightly within the blue skies.
"Woooow! It's beautiful!"
"I think we've stumbled across a completely new region." Suddenly the scoutflies turns red and hastily flew back into the small cage attached to the Hunter belt. "And new problems."
They tensed. Their hands reaching towards their weapons as they kept tabs on their surroundings. Out of the corner of the Brigadier's eye, he saw tiny dirt sprinkling the rocky floor.
He jerks his head up and spots a massive bird-like monster crawling across the rough mountain surface. The monster's color scheme was that of a Stygian Zinogre's; black, red, and white. Its entire body is pitch black with four glowing red eyes and a white skull plate over its head.
Having been spotted, the bird-like monster immediately attacks. It opens its beak and lunges at them, snapping at the air.
The Brigadier tumbles down the rocky slopes and re-establish himself at the base with his insect glaive drawn. The orange and yellow blade of his Lightbreak Press glowers with explosive powers from the Raging Brachydios he'd slain to forge such a weapon, primed to deal with any large and small threats.
Four gleaming red eyes stare deep into the Brigadier's soul, gauging its prey. Then, the bird-like monster raises one of its wings and pelts the Hunter with a storm of feather flechette.
Nearly caught off guard that it had a ranged attack, the Brigadier twirls his insect glaive to deflect some of the feathers while remaining mobile on the ground.
"Have some meowlotov!" A red clay pot with lit fused crashed into the bird-like monster, exploding and setting its feathers on fire.
It lets out a high-pitch screeched and flails around, smashing its head into the ground to snuff out the flame. This allowed the Brigadier to vault into the air and descends upon the bird-like monster's head, his blades glinting in the sun. The sturdy skull-like mask of the avian beast nearly shattered underneath the force exerted by the plunging Hunter. Sharp crackling noise accompanied the damage inflicted.
The trailing marks and pheromones left by his insect glaive stirred the kinsect on his arm. A large, beautiful kinsect whose species are the Foliacath III Forz, leaps off his arm and slams into the avian monster's head, further cracking its mask and releasing explosive powders into the air.
The creature shrieks and takes into the air, throwing everyone off of it.
The Brigadier lands on his back and quickly gets to his feet just in time to catch his falling Palico who had tried to mount the avian monster. In the sky, the creature rains feathers that struck the ground, embedding itself deep into the earth. Getting hit by a single one of those will not be a pleasant experience.
There wasn't much time to think, only avoid the storm of flechette while his kinsect buzz towards the pheromones marks it left on the avian monster's skull. It took notice of the flying kinsect and opened its beak to consume it, only for the Brigadier to steer the kinsect with his insect glaive by making it do a barrel roll.
The kinsect smacks into the creature's eyes at high velocity, knocking it out of the sky. The bird-like monster screeches as it falls. It crashes into nearby trees, buckling underneath the weight of the creature and sending red leaves flying everywhere.
Red leaves billow through the Brigadier's face as he charges towards the creature, using his insect glaive to clear his sight on his target.
His eyes are the weak spot that they inflicted, a clink in its skin and armor. Body leaning forward, blade sweeping; the Brigadier launches himself into the air and stabs the creature in the neck. With one tug, he rips his glaive free from the monster's flesh. The wounds inflicted from his Lightbreak Press begin to shine brightly, searing the creature before it erupted into a brilliant flash of the explosion.
The now headless avian monster collapses onto the pile of trees and leaves, obviously dead.
"It's weaker than I thought." The Brigadier has fought tougher and fiercer opponents than whatever that was. "I wonder what sort of species this…" The corpse of the monster begins to evaporate, releasing black smoke into the air. "What the…?"
"NYAH! It disappeared like smoke!"
"… Something isn't right." The Brigadier rubs his chin, trying to gather his thoughts.
Monsters just don't turn into smoke upon death. Unless it's some sort of illusion? Perhaps the work of an Elder Dragon…
"Uh… Meowster."
A small horde of creatures similar to the monster he had just killed begins to arrive. All of them possess black fur, glowing red eyes, and strange bony armors that cover their heads. Some of them, the larger ones, had spikes protruding out of their backs.
Despite the precarious situation, he finds himself in, the Brigadier did not wavier nor fear the throng of monsters that had surrounded them.
"That one looks like an Arzuros." He comments on the appearance of the bear-like monsters. There were other sorts of unfamiliar monsters. There were the wolf-like creatures that stood on their hind legs, boars with multiple eyes, and two-headed snakes that are colored like yin and yang. "They all seem to be working together despite looking like different species. Interesting."
"What should we do, meowster?"
"We fight." The Brigadier readied his glaive, "Because we are the Hunters and they are the prey!"
The largest monster in the pack lets out a howl. Cruel snarling and bloodthirsty growls fill the air as they charged towards the Brigadier and the felyne. Their jaws opening and snapping shut with unbridled savagery.
The horde met Hunter and his Palico head-on. The two sporting a wide grin, slaughtering their way through the forest.
/-/
"That Ursa is mine!" Yang roars, her eyes and hair blazing to match her anger.
She begins to viciously pummel the bear-like Grimm to death for cutting a strain of her luxurious blond hair. Disproportional retribution for a rather trivial matter, but to Yang, her hair means the world to her next to her younger half-sister, Ruby.
"Yeesh, and I thought I had a temper when somebody stains my clothes." Coco wipes the impressed look off her face and resumes culling their right flank of any Grimm with her giant Gatling gun.
More Grimm fell to the combined might of Beacon's best team, effortlessly exterminating the endless waves that dwindle with each passing second. It wasn't long before the last Grimm insight was slain by a single headshot from Ruby's high-caliber sniper scythe.
"All clear!" Ruby calls out, "I think that's the last of them."
"Oh, man. My arm is killing me." Wielding a sword and shield, Jaune sometimes has to bear the brunt of the attack. It is the downside of being such an upfront fighter, but it's not something he truly mined. "We should pack it up before the cafeteria opens early for dinner."
With students coming from the other four Huntsman Academies, the number of people having to line up for food can be staggering.
"I am working up an appetite." Nora's stomach growls, "Okay! Time to go back and ea– "
A loud crash and sky-piercing howls shake the entire forest, startling the team of Huntsmen and Huntresses in training. They sharply turn their head towards the source of the disturbance. Something large was tearing through the forest, felling trees with each thunderous step that sent red leaves scattering all over the forest.
"Retreat!" Everyone turned around and fled to get out of whatever is heading their way.
Too slow! The rumbling quickly caught up to them and they all stumble onto the ground from the immense tremor. Not a single one of them utter a sound as they witnessed a gigantic unidentified Grimm burst out of the forest, grappling with another large Grimm.
The unidentified Grimm appearance is somewhere between a horned lizard and wolf hybrid. The sheer height and length of the unidentified Grimm make all nearby trees look like garden shrubs. Like nearly all Creatures of Grimm, it shared the common characteristic of its brethren, possessing glowing red eyes and pitch-black colored scales. However, this Grimm was lacking the bony skull mask that most Grimm has and instead has white fur covering most of its body with crimson markings that illuminate brilliantly in contrast to its dark scales.
Yet that is not the strangest thing about this Grimm. It's the fact that it's fighting against its own kind.
The unidentified Grimm snarls and slashes at the largest Griffon the students have ever laid eyes upon; both Grimm wrestles against the other. Rolling through the forest, viciously clawing and biting. But it became apparent that the unidentified Grimm is the stronger one, easily pinning the Griffon to the ground and bit into its neck.
Brutally did the fearsome Grimm tore the Griffon's bony armor apart and feast upon its vulnerable neck, ending the flying Grimm in an instant.
The Griffon's eyes dimmed, its body disintegrating.
"I-it… Just killed one of its own!" Weiss pales, hardly believing her eyes.
The Creatures of Grimm do not intentionally kill each other and will often work together when attacking.
What could have driven this particular Grimm to kill one of its own?
Their question was quickly answered when the unidentified Grimm begins absorbing the remains of the decreased Griffon. As more dark vapors were integrated into the unidentified Grimm's body, the brighter the red markings become. Its entire body trembles and its massive frame begins to shift, growing faintly larger.
Jaune yelps, "It's getting bigger!"
Despite paling in the face of the Grimm, Coco manages to push down her fear and take control of the situation.
"Everyone! Call the professors and get back to Beacon! My team will distract it!"
A monster that eats its own kind is a special monster on its own, and she had watched enough movies to know that this isn't something they can fight.
Coco unravels her Gatling gun and secures her explosive ammo into its feeding mechanism. The small sound was enough to catch the cannibalistic Grimm's attention. Frantically pulling on the trigger, streams of high-impact bullets were propelled at high velocity at the Grimm. Bullets smashed and exploded onto its unnaturally tough scales, causing it to roar in anger.
The Grimm leap back and dip its head sideways to avoid the explosive rounds striking its face, proving that it's very intelligent. With a swipe of its claws and tail, entire swaths of trees were thrown at Coco and her teammates.
Coco internally cursed and strained herself to heave her gun up to block the flying tree. The impact sent Coco flying far out, nearly dislocating her arms even with her aura protecting her.
"Coco!" Yatsuhashi and Velvet call out in alarm.
"Watch out!" Fox telepathically screams at them.
The Grimm gallops at the remaining Team CFVY with frightening speed, each step it took causes the ground to tremble.
Taking a deep breath, Yatsuhashi brandishes his massive sword and surges forth to meet the Grimm, supported by Velvet with her wide array of weapons and flanked by Fox. However, the Grimm seems to anticipate this and spin its entire body, swinging its wide tail that brushed Fox aside and forced Team CFVY back. The Grimm eyes Fox who manages to land safely, albeit shakily on his foot after nearly getting sidelined by its tail.
Velvet produces a hard light copy of Coco's Gatling gun and fires at the charging Grimm, only for it to ignore the hard light bullets shattering against its body. The Grimm continues its attack, its hind legs crumpling the earth as it leaps into the air, soaring at Fox with its right claw rearing back and its jaws wide open.
Quick on his feet, Fox threw himself forward in hopes of sliding under the Grimm to avoid its attack, narrowly avoiding getting crush or eaten.
The Grimm sail over him and lacerate the ground with its entire body. It wasn't done yet. Despite its bulky frame, the Grimm was very agile and nimble, flipping and swiping at its surroundings with its limbs.
"Urgh!"
"Gucgk!"
Both Fox and Yatsuhashi were smacked aside hard, their bodies tumbling through the air and skimming the ground. With three of her teammates temporarily incapacitated, Velvet has no choice but to be the center of the Grimm's attention. She gulps and creates Ruby's High Caliber Sniper Scythe, hoping to buy her teammates and friends enough time to recover.
The air became prickly as the Grimm circles around Velvet, its white fur generating red electricity that sparks into the air. Each step it took cause red crackling bolts of lightning to blast the ground around it, almost like its proclaiming that it is nothing like any Grimm she had face before.
Velvet took her stance with her hard light scythe switching into its war scythe mode. Her body was tensed, ready to spring into action the moment the Grimm makes its move.
Teeth baring back, the Grimm was seconds from launching itself at Velvet until a powerful crack ripple the air. A bullet fired from a high caliber sniper rifle smashed against the Grimm's eye causing it to jolt in pain. It let out a snarl and turn to glare at its attacker.
"Help is on the way!" Ruby hollers from her vantage point.
Team RWBY and JNPR burst back onto the scene with their weapons primed for combat. Arriving on the scene is a ruffled-up Coco who looks very vivid at having sunglasses broken.
"Where's Yats and Fox?!"
Velvet points at the dip in the hillside where the two were knocked off. "Over there!"
"Damn! Can someone check on them?! I'll distract this guy while you guys cover me!"
The Grimm growls and leaps back, lowering its entire body slightly while softly howling. Numerous tiny red lights begin to gather around its body.
Jaune frowns at the Grimm's unusual behavior, "What's it doing? And what are those red things?"
"The professors and Atlas Military are almost here!" Ren points at an Atlesian military airship flying towards their way.
Coco motions them back with her head, keeping her gun pointed at the Grimm. "Change of plans, we'll set up a distraction until they arrive. Come get som–"
"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOO!"
Before she could pull the trigger, the Grimm threw its head back to the sky and let out a sky-piercing howl, causing everyone to cover their ears in pain. Its body was engulfed in a bolt of massive red lightning that cause the sky and air around them to bleed red. The pillar of lightning was accompanied by several more lightning strikes, littering the area in a red lightning storm.
The sudden influx of hazardous conditions caused the Atlesian airship to halt its advance, slowing any reinforcement and leaving the Huntsmen and Huntresses in training to fend for themselves for the time being.
The team of Huntsmen and Huntresses in training meekly glance up while grimacing, their ears ringing painfully from the terrifying Grimm's howl. Yet, they collect their resolve and shakily stood up, ready to fight for their lives. The Grimm leers at them with blazing red eyes and crouches low on the floor. Each passing second felt like a minute as they wait for the Grimm to make its first move.
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The Brigadier sprint through the forest with his Palico at his heel, making their way towards the area where they spotted the Stygian Zinogre's signature red lightning.
"I hear fighting!"
Sure enough, the Brigadier could also hear gunfire and roars clashing with his eardrums.
"It's nearby." He pants, slowing his sprint to a walk to regain his stamina. "But who's fighting it? There shouldn't be anyone out here… Unless there's another group of Hunters send out to these parts."
"Nya? Civilization in the Guiding Lands?"
"That's impossible. These lands were altered by Safi'jiiva leeching the place. There shouldn't be any civilizations this isolated from the world. I think…" The Brigadier double-checks his equipment and begins to break into a sprint. "It must be another group of Hunters that beaten us to this place!"
But for him to not be aware of another team operating out here, it must have been a secret or a sidetracked mission. Whichever the case is, he's about to find out who's confronting their target.
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"Get out of its way!"
Weiss panicky uses her glyphs to increase her movement speed, diving out of the monstrous Grimm blitzing lunge. It's been roughly a minute, but it felt like they've been fighting this frightening Grimm for half an hour. Within those precious seconds, they've been on the defensive retreat as the hulking reptilian wolfish Grimm ruthlessly attacked them with untold ferocity.
"Nora! Now!"
Nora slides on her knees and shifts her hammer into its grenade launcher. She happily winks and fires all her loaded grenades at the Grimm.
It was all for naught; the Grimm was extraordinarily intelligent, twirling its body and destroying the grenades out of the air with its tail. After eliminating the explosive projectiles, the Grimm lands on all four and brushes its right arm on the ground, charging its claw with red electricity.
The pupil of Pyrrha's eyes shrank, "Scatter!"
The Grimm vaults into the air and slams down where Pyrrha was standing. It leaps up again, this time targeting Nora and Ren. The two avoided the crushing blow, but Nora stumbles on the ruptured ground. Her eyes widen as the Grimm bask itself in red electricity and barrels towards her. No option but to block the attack, Nora raises her hammer and brace for impact.
She hopes that her aura would hold so that her semblance could absorb the electricity the Grimm was generating. Enough for her to recover and escape, maybe even fight back. Alas, this was no ordinary lightning. Her semblance was unable to absorb the electricity that the Grimm was generating, and Nora felt conscious slipping away.
Nora's vision went red and for a few seconds, she didn't know where she was.
"…ra! Nora!" Ren was suddenly in her vision, shouting her name. "Are you alright?"
Nora weakly nods, "Uh-huh. Never… Better. Ow!" She glances at her arm and notices that it was slashed and bleeding. "Oh… No more aura."
"Ren! Get your partner out of here! Everyone, fall back! Right now!" Coco barks at her under classmates, her lips were drawn down into a frown.
"We'll take things from here!" Said Ruby.
"Come on, let's get her to safety!"
Team JNPR begins to whisk away their injured teammate, hoping that backup can arrive soon. This left only Team RWBY and CFVY to engage the Grimm, throwing everything they can at the beast while their friends lag slightly in their retreat just to watch the fight.
Their attacks only enraged the Grimm, causing it to unleash another devastating area-wide lightning attack.
"ARRRRRRROO!"
The deafening howl forced everyone to cover their ears, rendering them defenseless against the lightning bolts that laid waste to the area around them.
Halfway in its howling attack, a figure dash out and fired a clutch claw onto the Grimm's faces. With a mighty swing of his clutch claw, the device slashes sharply across the Grimm's face causing it to jolt its body to the side.
"OOOOO– YELP!"
Another slash against its face forcefully repositions the Grimm's direction towards a small incline that had a few trees and exposed roots sticking out. The figure jams his wrist slinger into the Grimm's face and blasted it with lighting Dust. The burst was powerful enough to propel the figure back and sending the Grimm scuttling towards the incline. The Grimm trip over the roots and tumble with the trees down the hillside, howling all the way down.
"Whoa." Several of the Huntsmen and Huntresses in training softly gasps, their eyes glowing with awe.
"A pity I had to use that..." Their rescuer sighs at the loss of his lightning Dust.
He is a young man in his early twenties wearing a lavish dark blue hat and an elaborated lightly armored uniform. His belt was strapped with numerous tools and a sheath that held a saber. However, it appears to be his backup weapon as he sports a double-edged glaive that's brimming orange at a steady frequency. Without a reason of a doubt, this individual must be a Huntsman.
"Ameowzing! Using the tree roots to make the meownster fall!" A very tiny figure decked out in some sort of icy crystalized armor and weapon scamper over on all fours and stop once it's at the young man's heel. It turns to regard the ragged team of Huntsmen and Huntresses in training, tilting its head. "Nrrrya? Strange looking Hunters! Who are you?"
"Ask later." The young Huntsman grunts, "We have a hunt to finish."
"Ah! You're right! Don't let the meownster escape!"
The two strange individuals leap off the incline and slide down the hillside in pursue of the Grimm.
"… It looks like backup has arrived." Jaune breathes out and slumps to the ground.
"Indeed." Said a man with pale hair and brown eyes. This man is Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy, finally making his appearance.
"Professor Ozpin! Did you see that?!" Ruby excitedly exclaims, "Another Huntsman just showed up and jumped onto the Grimm's face and slapped it so hard that it made it move sideways! Then he shot it in the face with lightning Dust and made it roll down the hill!"
Ozpin raises an eyebrow, having missed the whole ordeal. "A Huntsman, you say? Where is he now?"
"He's gone after it, along with his… Talking miniature companion." Weiss explains, picking herself up and brushing the dirt off her leg.
"It was making a lot of feline noises," Yang notes.
Blake shoots her partner a glance at the 'feline' part but agreed with her observation. It had a very strange accent.
"Hmm, that is peculiar. Shall we assist our mysterious Huntsman and his companion?" Ozpin glance up at the sky, watching the Atlesian military airship hover over them. "General Ironwood has our backs. Along with Glynda." He nods at a blond woman tending to Nora's wounds. "I believe it's feasible to continue." He then turns to Team RWBY, JNPR, and CFVY. "Care to join us?"
Glynda cease tending to Nora's wound and sharply turn her head at him, "Sir! You can't be serious?! One of our students is injured!"
Nora meekly lifts her bandaged arm. "It's just a scratch, Professor Goodwitch. Thank you, but I should be fine."
"Ohmygosh can we?!" Ruby squeals, "I want to see how–"
A distant roar ripple through the air and a flash of red lightning shatter the sky. It seems that the mysterious Huntsman has found the Grimm and is engaging it in combat.
"Let's make haste."
/-/
The Stygian Zinogre is a tempered one and a massive fellow compared to its species. The Brigadier reckons it's roughly four meters bigger than the biggest one recorded, and a lot tougher and meaner. Regardless of its proportions or ferocity, this is a Fanged Wyvern species he had hunted many times before with ease.
This monster is hardly a challenge to him.
He ducks to avoid a blazing red claw, skin prickling at the faint draconic energy buzzing at its tips. With a push of his leg, the Brigadier rolls away from a tail swipe. The Stygian Zinogre readjust its attack, twirling its massive frame with one claw to do a backflip, slamming its tail down onto the ground, barely hitting its mark.
'Gotcha!' The Brigadier's eyes flash as he attacks the Stygian Zinogre's tail.
His insect glaive shred the protective scale and tough fur, digging deep into its flesh. The Stygian Zinogre snarls and pulls back, but the Brigadier had taken the opportunity to use it is tail to vault over the gigantic beast, slicing down onto its back.
"Go, meowster!" His Palico cheers for him as he mounts the monster.
The monster thrashes around violently in an attempt to dislodge the Hunter. The Brigadier hacks away at the Stygian Zinogre's back with his glaive, spinning up and down its spine with each attack. His kinsect buzz in the air, smashing into the monster's legs while his Palico pounce onto its neck, jabbing his lance into its broken scales.
"KRAAAAH!"
The Stygian Zinogre roars in pain, throwing its entire body into the ground, dislodging the Palico and kinsect, but not the Brigadier. He hops onto the monster's face and slices into its horns and skull in quick succession, dispersing enough explosive residue and triggering an explosion that knocked the Stygian Zinogre onto the ground.
The Brigadier rode the explosion and lands steadily on his foot. Gripping his weapon firmly, he charges towards the injured Stygian Zinogre flailing and howling on the ground. It quickly scrambles up, much to his surprise, and launches a counterattack, raising its head high into the sky and howling, rupturing the air in red, draconic lightning.
"Grrrrgh!" The Brigadier grits his teeth as he was struck by one of the draconic lightning, nearly knocking him over.
He reestablishes his footing and glares at the Stygian Zinogre whose entire body is crackling with draconic energy. The monster had little patience left, lunging at the Brigadier with reckless savagery.
Eyes narrow, muscle tensing, the Brigadier digs the end of his insect glaive into the ground and propels himself into the air, spinning his weapon as he met the Stygian Zinogre's midair. Dexterous arms guide his weapon, performing an onslaught of cuts and stabs that extend from head to spine. Time slows as the Brigadier stabs his insect glaive into the Stygian Zinogre's back, then with all his strength, hurdle himself into the air once again.
Dancing in the sky, he twirls his insect glaive to prep his kinsect for their final attack. His eyes on the prize, his blade shining with explosive power, he activated the thrusters on his weapon, plunging at the Stygian Zinogre's head.
The Stygian Zinogre was heavily injured and exhausted to react in time – its head impaled by the Brigadier's insect glaive, followed the kinsect dive-bombing into its head like a nail in the coffin. Its entire body came crashing into the ground with a thunderous crash. The Dracophage Bugs scatter at the death of its symbiotic host, frantically flying into the air in swarms to escape.
Frighteningly enough, despite the extensive damage dealt to the Stygian Zinogre's brain, it manages to weakly lift its entire body to let out one last howl before going limp. With its last breath expended, the Stygian Zinogre finally died, its massive frame slumping into the ground.
"Yay! We did it!" Mateo happily jumps in the air while waving his weapon. "Mission accomplished!"
The Brigadier lets out a sigh of relief and knees down to pat his Palico on the head.
"Yes. Mission accomplished after a good run." His eyes then shift towards the group of people watching them from afar, then to the floating metal airship in the sky. "And it seems that we've stumbled across something entirely new."
How was he going to report this? The paperwork is also going to be a pain.