Chapter 6 - Causing Trouble in the Emerald Forest
As we were making our way through the Emerald Forest, we focused on Yang for the time being. She was walking through the forest, but she was mainly looking for someone to talk to or at very least a monster to fight.
"Hello!?" Yang said out loud as something quickly moved through the bushes as she walked by. "Is anyone out there? Hello! I'm getting bored here." Yang said emphatically.
There was a rustling in the bushes. Yang heard this.
"Is someone there?" She asked as she went over to investigate. "Ruby, is that you?" Yang asked as she moved the light shrubbery out of her line of sight to see where the noise came from.
She heard growling and seeing that the unruly noise came from two ursai, she knew the answer to her question.
"Nope." Yang said, making a popping sound with the 'p'.
She dove out of the way as one of them attacked. Her gauntlets formed themselves as she got combat ready. The other came out to attack to, but Yang back flipped to dodge the strike. The first one rushed her, but earned a heavy punch for his trouble. The second rushed her as well, but was uppercutted into the air and kicked back as Yang followed it up.
"You wouldn't happen to have seen a girl in a red hood, could you?" Yang asked.
The ursai roared at her.
"You could just say no." She said as she backed away to dodge one attack and then back flipped to dodge another.
"Jeez, you guys couldn't hit the broadside of a ba..." Yang began to say as she saw a small strand of her hair falling in front of her eyes.
As the small strand of hand touched the ground, Yang was absolutely livid.
"You...You monsters!" She screamed as her eyes turned red and she rushed the one that caused her hair to fall out.
She completely wrecked him with a strong rally of punches and used her gauntlet's bullets to propel herself further as she she knocked him away. When she was done, she punched the ursai through several trees. The other roared as it was about to attack her.
"What?! You want some, too?!" Yang shouted, glaring at the other ursai.
Suddenly it was taken out and a slicing noise could be heard from behind it. As it fell, a familiar face appeared. It was Blake. She removed the blade portion of her gun from the ursai's back and she smiled at Yang.
"I could have taken him." Yang says.
We then turn our focus on Ruby and Weiss, who in the midst of fighting creatures of grimm. Weiss was forced back from a strike by a beowolf, but she managed to regain her composer.
"(Remember your training, Weiss. Head up, shoulders back. Right foot forward. Not that forward.)" Weiss said in her mind as she did her actions. "(Slow your breathing, wait for the right time to strike.)" Weiss continued in her mind as she then went to strike, but Ruby was faster and struck the Beowolf before she could.
This caused Weiss to stumble and use the element she had set to strike elsewhere to avoid hitting Ruby. The strike hit a nearby tree. Ruby looked back toward Weiss, but then remembered the Beowolf and was struck at, but she managed to block it. She was forced back into Weiss, who was understandably upset.
"Hey, watch it." Ruby said, on one knee
"Excuse me, you attack out of turn. I could have killed you." Weiss said angrily.
"You'll have to try a lot harder than that." Ruby said quietly.
Both girls were surrounded by Beowolves, on all sides. Ruby reloaded Crescent Rose and was ready to fight as a burning tree fell to her left.
"We have to go." Weiss says as she grabs Ruby's hand and runs away from the scene.
As Ruby caught up with Weiss, Weiss was catching her breath from running so far away from the enemy.
"What was that?! That should have been easy!" Ruby said in frustration.
"Well, perhaps if you would have exercised the slight bit of caution with placement of your strikes, I wouldn't have set the forest on fire." Weiss argues.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ruby asked, offended by Weiss's words.
"I'm just surprised for someone who talks so much, would communicate so little during an encounter." Weiss said.
"Well, I'm sorry that you need MY help to win a fight. I'm just fine on my own." Ruby countered.
"Well, congratulations on being the strongest child to sneak your way into Beacon. Bravo." Weiss said as she walked away from Ruby.
Ruby got so angry from the argument, she sliced a tree in half with Crescent Rose and walked in the same direction as Weiss after putting Crescent Rose back. Upon her striking that tree down, a giant black feather fell from it. Looks like there's gonna be trouble real soon. Now to me and my makeshift team. We were walking through the forest and heard gunfire.
"It seems someone else has encountered the enemy." Natalia said.
"Yeah, that means we'd better keep moving." Sai said as he heard a noise up ahead.
He signaled us to stop.
"Sai, what is it?" I whispered.
I then heard the noise myself and readied Shinigami Destroyer in its pistol form. Kraken was ready to fight as well, as he snarled at the sound we heard. Natalia gripped the handle of her Buster Sword that could detach and turn into duel wielding a long and short katana. From the Katanas she can turn them into two 44. Magnums. The bottom of the barrel of the magnums were bladed, so she could slice up her opposition while shooting if she so desired. Also from the the Buster Sword, she could turn her weapon into a sniper rifle.
"Kraken, you take left. Natalia, you push up front. Sai, back her up." I said, taking my position on the right.
"What makes you think you're the leader of us?" Natalia asked.
"We don't have time to make this a discussion. Just do as I say." I said in retort.
"I'd like to know why you think should lead us." She said, with a bit of arrogance and anger.
"You're Seriously doing this right now?" I asked, looking at her with anger in my eyes.
"Look, you may be strong, but I don't want to be lead unless I have a good reason to follow that person. So if you don't give me a good reason to do as you say, then we will stay divided on the battlefield. And I can do just fine on my own." Natalia said sternly.
"I bet we can do well on our own, but the there are four of us and we don't have a lot of options, so we fight united or possibly die divided. Which ever is your choice, you can stick with it and let that drive you on, I don't care what you choose. If can't make it through this as a unit, then how do you think we'd fare against multiple amounts of the enemy on our own. Sai and I can make it through just fine, but I don't know about you Natalia. I've only seen Kraken fight and that's when he was protecting you from the creatures of Grimm. Right now, we need to stick together and fight the enemy. If you don't want to be deemed useless, you will help us fight." I said as if I were really the leader of the group.
Kraken applauded me. Sai gave me two pats on the shoulder. Natalia smiled and nodded. She then took her position in the front of the group and Sai was right behind her. Kraken was on the left side of them and I was on the right. Grimm came in to attack us. At least ten Beowolves, six Ursa, five Boarbatusks, fifteen Creeps, and one King Taijitu.
"Second thought, Sai, cover the rear." I ordered as I stepped a little ways away from Natalia.
Sai did as I told him, because Grimm surrounded us on all sides.
"Come on you ugly bastards." Sai said, laying in wait for one of them to attack.
"We're aren't dying in this forest." Kraken said, ready to strike.
"Thirty-Seven enemies surround us. Alright, I like these odds." I say, with an evil smile.
"I will not die here. I've come too far to let myself end up as another dead body." Natalia said, taking her Buster Sword off her back.
A beowolf rushed Kraken. He dodged its attack. He then grabbed its tail and slammed it to the ground. Two more rushed him, but he used the beowolf that rushed him to hit the other two that were incoming. After doing so, he threw the beowolf he had into a tree. Sai used his chains to grab three Boarbatusks and brutally rip them to pieces. An Ursa swung at him, but Sai block the strike and countered with a hard side snap kick. He then made his chains wrap around his hands. Sai then punched through two Ursa and ax kicked a Boarbatusk into the ground. I quickly shot four Beowolves in their heads and then switched Shinigami Destroyer to its Elemental Gauntlet form. Two Boarbatusks tried to hit me with their ball form attack, but luckily I kicked them both into the air. I then charged a mass amount of lightning into my gauntlet. I turned the two Boarbatusks to dust. Three Creeps tried to attack me. I switched my weapon to its katana form and sliced through them effortlessly. An Ursa tried to swing downward at me since it towered over me, but I blocked his attack and looked at him with an intimidating glare.
"You are truly a disgusting sight to behold." I say, stabbing it. "Get the fuck out of my sight."
I then remove my sword from the Ursa and take the samurai stance. I rapidly slash the Ursa and as if time was slowed down, I sheath Shinigami Destroyer and the Ursa fell to pieces. Natalia was standing with her Buster Sword ready to strike down any poor Grimm that stood in her way. The last twelve Creeps rushed at Natalia. She smirked as she took he sword off of her back.
"Let's party, you bunch of ingrates." Natalia said, slicing through two of them with her sword.
She jumped back, putting distance between herself and the Creeps. The Creeps charged at her. Natalia separated her Buster Sword into long and short Katanas. She held the short one as if it were a dagger and rushed at the Creeps that charged at her. Natalia sliced through her opposition with ease. She stabbed a Creep in its mouth, then lifted it and threw it at an Ursa behind her. One of the Creeps knocked her to the ground and tried to kill her after it did, but Natalia kicked it up from her position and stabbed it in its stomach. One tried to attack her from her left. She kicked it, while discarding the one that was still on her sword. Natalia jumped high into the air and connected her Katanas together to recreate her Buster Sword. She then switched her Buster Sword to its Sniper Rifle form. While still in the air, she decimated the last of the Creeps. As she landed an Ursa swiped at her from behind. She matrixed its swipe and shot it in the face. Thanks to her, the number of enemies were cut down immensely. Natalia wasn't done yet. She switched her weapon back to its Buster Sword form. Then from there she split her Buster Sword into the long and short Katanas. From the Katanas to two 44. Magnums. Natalia shot the one remaining Ursa in the chest twice, killing it. There were only three enemies left. Natalia did most of the killing between all of us. The King Taijitu fled the scene. Now final the two remaining Boarbetusks were the only things left to fight us.
"Either stay and die, or run and be hunted. It's your choice from here." I said to the two monsters.
Sai, Natalia, and Kraken smiled. The Boarbatusks charged at me specifically out our group. Both of them tried to attack me by rolling to me. I quickly acted and stopped them with my right, which wore the elemental gauntlet. I swtiched its element from lightning to fire. I gathered near the same amount of energy I used to destroy the last two Boarbatusks. I blasted them with fire, completely turning them to ashes. I smiled an evil smile and I wanted to laugh sadistically, but I contained myself. I turned to Sai, Kraken, and Natalia. They still had their smiles on their faces and I gestured for Kraken to lead on. He did as I wanted and we followed him as he started walking in the direction of the ruins and Yang.
*On the other side of the Forest*
Jaune and Pyrrha were making their way through the forest. Jaune then heard a gunshot.
"Did you hear that?" Jaune said, turning his head toward the sound, almost instinctively.
"Gunfire. It seems some of our comrades have encountered the enemy." Pyrrha said as she kept walking through the forest.
As Jaune followed, Pyrrha had moved a branch out of her way. Jaune wasn't paying much attention and was struck by said branch as it swung back, hitting him in his face, scarring him on his cheek.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha said, as she went to him.
"Don't worry, it's just a scratch."He said, touching the scar on his cheek.
Jaune picked himself up off the ground.
"Why didn't you activate your aura?" Pyrrha asked the blonde haired boy.
"Huh?" Jaune said in slight confusion.
"Your aura." Pyrrha said again."Gesundheit." Jaune said in a joking manner.
"Jaune, do you know what aura is?" Pyrrha asked curiously.
Jaune quickly scoffed in an arrogant manner.
"Of course I do. Do you know what aura is?" Jaune asked in a nervous tone, not wanting to sound like he was stupid.
"Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts." Pyrrha explained. As she explained to Jaune what aura is, we went over to where Ren was.
He was walking through the forest. While the scene was still on him, Pyrrha began speaking to Jaune about the benefits of aura.
"Have you ever felt like you were being watched without knowing someone was there." Pyrrha asked.
"Uh, yeah." Jaune said in a slightly disjointed tone.
Ren focused and he checked his surroundings for anything that could be around to attack him. He stood there waiting. The black head of the King Taijitu rose up from the grassy null. It hissed and began to wind itself around Ren to surround him. Ren took a stance in which to combat his foe.
*Back to Jaune and Pyrrha*
"With practice, our aura can be our shield." Pyrrha said, walking around Jaune. "Everyone has it, even animals."
"WHat about monsters?" Jaune asked.
"No." Pyrrha said simply.
*Back to Ren*
"The monsters we fight lack a soul." Pyrrha said as the King Taijitu struck a defending Ren.
He then spun in the air to regain his balance and land on the ground.
The King Taijitu began to wrap itself around Ren in an attempt to crush him. Ren then released his weapons from his sleeves and jumped out of the King Taijitu wrap. He began shooting it.
"They are creatures of Grimm. The manifestation of anonymity." Pyrrha said. "They are the Darkness and we are the Light."
"Right. That's why we fight them." Jaune added.
"It's not about why, it's about knowing." Pyrrha said, correcting Juane.
Then as he was changing direction in the air, he kicked it in its head. He then ran on its body and sliced it with the bladed portion of his weapon. As the King Taijitu's black head got back to its senses, it tried to attack Ren again. This time Ren dodged it and stabbed it in the top of its head. As he began to let his guard down, the white head of the King Taijitu reared its ugly head.
"Understanding both Dark and Light helps us manifest our aura." Pyrrha explains briefly. "Everyone has some of both.
The white head charged in to attack Ren, but he dodged it. Both heads were on the offensive, but Ren only looked at his opposition with a determined stare. He ran to the King Taijitu and jumped on to the black head's body. He slid down the body firing his weapons at both heads.
"By baring your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools and equipment are conduits for aura." Pyrrha explains.
Ren was shooting and jumping, back flipping, and landing on the King Taijitu's body, until he was struck down.
"You project yourself and your soul when you're fighting." Pyrrha says as the back King Taijitu head attacked Ren as he just go to a knee.
*Back to Pyrrha and Jaune*
"It's like a force field!" Jaune said stupidly.
"Yes, if you want to look at it that way." Pyrrha said a bit uneasily.
*Back to Ren* (To be honest, it's this episode that makes me not want to put this out as often, because of the scene transitions. It's fucking annoying.)
Ren's aura was at his hands and he had stopped the black King Taijitu head from biting him. He then ripped out its two upper fangs and stabbed it with one of them in its right eye. Afterwards he used his aura to strike and push the fang further into its eye and due the amount of aura Ren put behind his strike, the black King Taijitu head exploded. Ren took a stance and charged after the white head.
*Back to Pyrrha and Jaune AGAIN*
Pyrrha walked up to Jaune.
"Now, close your eyes and concentrate." Pyrrha ordered as she held Jaune's face.
"Uh, okay." Jaune said nervous, but did as he was told.
She closed her eyes and reopened them as he eyes became aura and Jaune's aura had become visible. She then closed them again and stood back a little.
"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul and by my shoulder protect thee." She said as she unlocked Jaune's aura. Pyrrha had exhausted herself, only for the moment.
"Pyrrha?!" Jaune said worriedly.
"It's okay. I used my aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you now is your own." She said as she watched the scar on Jaune's cheek heal itself. "You have a lot of it."
*With me, Sai, Natalia, and Kraken*
"That's what she sai-." Sai was about to say, before I punched him."Not now, Sai." I say as I continue following Kraken.
*Back to Ren*
Ren had just defeated the King Taijitu and put his weapons back on his sleeves and dusted himself off. Then Nora was heard, making a weird noise. She came down, hanging upside down from a tree.
"I still down think that's what a sloth sounds like." He said, with a smile.
Nora simply poked his nose and said. "Boop.