Beta: ShadowMeister234
Back on the airship, Jaune had speculated that a lack of entertainment on this trip would lead to a lot of talking.
He had been wrong.
Everyone was dead silent as the group moved through terrain which had slowly transformed from an empty plain to a bumpier region sparsely populated with trees that looked like they would topple with one good hit.
The silence made things awkward, to Jaune if no one else, but it was better than barely concealed hatred. Jaune had talked with Yang about her ammo expenditure and grimm she hit him with. The look on her face when she realized she had blown through 64 of the only 250 rounds she had brought with her had been both hilarious and depressing at the same time. She also apologized for hitting him with the grimm, even if it had sounded half-hearted. As a semi-apology and just realizing that rushing forward would do her any good, she had relented to walking with the group instead of ahead of them. That helped lower the animosity between Emerald and her which meant grimm attacks were less frequent, so although their pace was slower, not having to stop as often to fight was likely a net gain in the long run.
That wasn't to say grimm attacks weren't still commonplace during their hike. Just an hour ago they had been ambushed by three massive nevermores. Worse, the grimm seemed to get feistier the farther they traveled. It wasn't even noon yet and already Emerald's and Yang's aura was hovering around half while he still had about three-fourths thanks to his larger reserves.
There was some time to build it back up between fight, but it wasn't nearly enough. If they got too low, they would have to set up camp early and throw away some of the day. Judging from that map, they had the rest of today and then tomorrow before arriving at Cryphilictal around early afternoon on the day after. However, that was only true if they held a good pace. Cutting travel time for rest could easily add another night. It was something that weighed heavily on Jaune's mind and he knew did on Yang's as well.
Their mood wasn't helped any by the literal dark clouds hanging over them. The midday sun that should be bathing them in warmth was dimmed to a point where it felt like they were trapped in an eternal dusk. The question wasn't if it was going to rain, it was when. All of them wanted to cover as much ground they could before that happened and honestly, Jaune was amazed it hadn't already.
Still, even with all that, the worst part of the day was definitely the way Emerald was looking at him. She was watching him like he was a glass sculpture ready to fall apart at a moment's notice. There was still anger in her expression, but it was so muddied by her underlying worry that it was hard to tell what mood she was actually in.
"You don't have to keep watching over me," Jaune said finally breaking the silence. "I'm not just going to keel over and die."
"How can you be sure?" Emerald pouted—genuinely pouted—now he had seen it all. "Sudden headaches and nosebleeds aren't exactly signs of good health. It might be something a lot more serious."
"You're overreacting. I barely get them anymore and when they happened they're over in a second."
"You should still see a doctor."
"They wouldn't know what to do."
"You don't know that! Just because the cause was magic doesn't mean it can't be treated medically."
"Do you go to the hospital every time you caught a cold growing up?"
"That's different and you know it. I was always sick growing up and too broke to do anything about it, but we have the SDC on our side. Whitley could get the best doctor in the world to come to you if he needed to."
Yang, who had heard it all, chose that moment to chime in. "I think she's right. You should have someone look at you. The worst that could happen is they can't find anything wrong and nothing changes. There's really no reason not to, unless you're scared of the doctor that is."
Jaune lied. Yang backing up Emerald, now he had seen it all. "Fine, I'll have someone examine me when we get back," he said. Emerald smiled and Yang smirked. If they had been a couple of years younger, Jaune was sure they would have given each other a high five. Nice to know that even those two could agree with each other as long as he was the one they were disagreeing with.
Things might have descended into another awkward silence, but his initial sentence seemed to make the girls a little more comfortable with just talking. "How far do you think we've come today?" Yang asked.
"Is that just an alteration on 'are we there yet' so it doesn't sound so whiny?" Jaune said, unfolding the map.
"Hey! I'm being serious. The aches in my feet are making it feel like we've been walking forever. I just want to know that we're actually making progress."
"Imagine how you'd be feeling if you were running at the pace you did yesterday," Emerald commented.
Some red crept into Yang's cheeks, but that didn't deter her from leveling a glare Emerald's way. Emerald's reply comes in the form of a raised middle finger. Jaune quickly slapped it away before Yang could take too much offense.
Yeah, those two were still far from friends. Baby steps are better than no steps though.
"If we are where I think," Jaune said, answering Yang's original question, "we should be hitting the hill by the end of the day."
"Hill? I don't see any hills," Yang said looking off into the distance.
"It's not that steep so I don't think it's going to be that obvious. I might even be wrong to call it a hill. All I know is what the map it is telling me and it's saying that there's a region up ahead that gradually slopes upwards."
"How detailed is that map anyways, and how good our you at actually reading it?"
The map was very detailed, almost absurdly so given the remote region they were in, and the sudden increase in his navigation skills were thanks to the notes that were written on the back of the map. It was like a quick reference guide, obviously done by a professional, explaining everything about the map and so much more. Whitley had really thought of everything. Without them, Jaune would have only been able to provide basic directions.
"I'm basically an expert," Jaune said earning and eye roll from his partner.
While Jaune was laughing to himself, he felt a droplet of water his nose. Looking upwards, a second one hit his forehead followed by a third on his eyebrow. The clouds would hold it no more; it was starting to rain.
The girls felt it too and looked to him for direction. "Let's stop for lunch and hope it's just a little autumn shower that breaks by the time we're done," he said.
The rainstorm did not break by the time they were done. In fact, it seemed to just be getting started. It came in sheets drenching everything in sight. Jaune had probably experienced harder downpours before, but with only a simple canopy for protection instead of a cozy home, this felt much worse.
The issues plaguing them now was if they should move through it. Their visibility would be limited, but it would still better than it would be at night. Yang had also explained to him that grimm, for the most part, were just like any other animals. They wouldn't want to be out in this either, so it was likely they could avoid a lot of them if they were willing to brave the storm which, of course, she was.
Emerald didn't seem to have an opinion either way, so the decision was left entirely up to him. In the end, he decided that staying in one place being wet and miserable would be just as likely to draw in grimm as anything else, so they may as well try to make as much progress as they could. With ponchos equipped (Whitley had really thought to pack everything) the group set out.
Many hours passed on their grueling trek. The rain didn't let up for a single minute. Jaune had to keep brushing his hair out of his eyes as it stuck to his face in an uncomfortable manner. Emerald and especially Yang probably had it worse in that regard, but that knowledge didn't help alleviate his discomfort. What he wouldn't give to still have his cozy Pumpkin Pete hoodie.
Mud splashed onto the bottom of his pants as the ground was so wet that it was like there were wading through a marsh. It slowed them down and exhausted them, but true to Yang's word they hadn't encounter any grimm since they left, but if Jaune knew anything it was that their luck wouldn't last, and about four and a half hours after their break, where the land began to move towards the sky and the isolated trees grew a little thicker, it finally ran out.
It started with a sound. The rain was loud, but the faint whispers of something unnatural were still able to reach their ears.
"Does anyone else hear that?" Emerald asked.
"Yes."
"I do."
The group stopped and drew their weapons. The sound continued but there was nothing to be seen in any direction. The rain might have been bad but there was no way it could obscure a grimm that had gotten close enough for them to hear. Of course, with Cryphilictal only a little more than a day and a half away, grimm weren't the only beasts that might attack them.
The group formed a rough circle to have eyes in every direction as the sound grew, not louder but perhaps more distinctive. To Yang, it sounded like a cartoonish laugh. To Jaune, it sounded like someone flicking a lighter on and off, but both heard the "Khe-he-khe" getting closer.
"Where is it coming from?" Jaune whisper as he thought of all the possibilities. If it was invisible the rain should still be hitting it and footprints would appear in the mud. Intangible maybe? If that was the case they might already be doomed.
Suddenly the sound cut out as if it was a speaker that had been unplugged, and the ground began to rumble. Emerald was the first one to put two and two together. "Move!" She screamed.
Jaune didn't even think about it as he leaped in the direction he was facing as far as he could. Yang was slower in following the instruction, but she still avoided the maw that popped out of the ground and would have bitten off everything below the knee had they still been there.
Jaune and Yang swung around, but it was Emerald who swung around with her chained blade unleashed to try and strike the target. Unfortunately, the creature dove back underground long before the weapon reached it. The muddy ground slid back into place covering its escape.
"Khe-he-khe-khe," it said like it was mocking them.
"Quick, what did everyone see?" Jaune said.
"Definitely a grimm," Emerald responded. "It had a flat face with a wide mouth. Looked like a dish. It didn't come out far enough for me to see its body, but I'd say it's bigger than an Ursa Major."
"Okay," Jaune said storing that information away. "Yang, have you ever seen anything like this before."
She seemed surprised to be asked a question so directly but quickly recovered. "No, I've never even heard of anything like that."
The grimm was a complete mystery then. Not good, but better than it could have been given what might have come crawling out of Cryphilictal. All grimm were susceptible to blades and bullets, so as long as they could lure it out of the ground they should be able to kill it.
"Let's separate," Jaune suggested, "when it surfaces to try and eat one of us the others will be in a position to counterattack."
"Sounds good to me."
They formed a triangle far enough away from each other to where the grimm wouldn't be able to try to take a bite out of more than one of them at a time, but close enough so they could run to each other if something went wrong. The only thing left to do was to wait for the thing to emerge.
The rain pounded and the wind howled, but the distinctive sound of the grimm was nowhere to be found. A grimm would never run away from a fight so what could it possibly be doing? Jaune got his answer a moment later when three massive quills dug out from the ground and shot towards him like arrows fired from a ballista. Jaune was completely caught off guard by the surprise attack and was only able to evade it by falling on his ass.
He knew what was about to happen the second his butt sunk into the mud and rolled away as quick as he could. It still wasn't fast enough. When the wide jaws of the grimm broke through the ground they caught one of his legs with their jagged teeth.
Aura protected him from any real damage, but the pressure of having several sharp points digging into his leg was unpleasant and his aura wouldn't hold out for long if this thing kept chomping on him.
Though with the grimm so up close Jaune was able to get his first good look at it. Just like Emerald described its head was very flat with its nose and eyes poking out the top. It kind of resembled a much wider alligator. The entire top of its head was encased in the standard bone armor too tough to break through in Jaune's position, but there was a slit to allow for the grimm's eyes. That was exactly where he planned to strike, but as he positioned his sword to take the plunge, he saw a flash of intelligence in the grimm's gaze.
"Khe-he-khe." The grimm swung its head up and to the side taking him with it. His aura crackled as the grimm's teeth were the only thing keeping him tethered to the ground. His sword fell from his hand and disappeared back into the Apeiron. Sadly, his suffering wasn't over as two of Emerald's bullets impacted his back since she had been running to help him and had chosen the same target to attack as he had.
After the grimm was finished using his body as an impromptu shield, it swung its head back around the other side, letting him go in the process. He flew right at Yang, who had also been running towards the grimm, but instead of catching him or getting to experience what it's like to get hit by a flying body for herself, she decided to dodge, leaving him to smack into the mud.
Jaune's valiant sacrifice went unavenged, however, as the grimm dove back underground before Yang could reach him. "Damn it!" she yelled punching the hole that was no longer there.
While that was going on. Jaune was busy pulling himself out of the mud. "You alright?" Emerald asked once she got a little closer.
Jaune spit out a glob of brown and green, but the awful taste still lingered. "My leg hurts and my back is sore, but I'll live."
"Sorry about that," she said, embarrassed.
"It's fine. There's no way you could have known the grimm was smart enough to use me as a shield, and at least you tried to help me," he said, giving Yang a disgusted look as she wandered over.
She either didn't notice or chose to ignore it. Truthfully, that was probably for the best. This wasn't the time to be fighting among themselves. "This is bad," Yang stated. "It recognized the threat of Emerald guns. This one must be really old."
"I think we figure that part out," Emerald said, "but what was with that first attack. It's like a subterranean Nevermore."
As if to prove her point, another volley of quills dug their way through the ground and attempted to skewer them. It wasn't as much of a surprise this time so all of them were able to dodge it, but it had been closer than any of them would have liked.
"How does it know where we are?" Jaune complained, re-manifesting his sword.
"It can either hear us or smell us," Yang replied.
"It's definitely the smell," Emerald answered. "We were quiet during our formation and even if it did have super hearing that could pick up our breathing and heartbeats this rain would have drowned it out."
Jaune eyes darted across the ground as search for any signs of the subterranean grimm. "So. I'm guessing your illusions aren't going to be able to help us out here? That's normally our ace in the hole."
"Not this time. Mimicking or masking out scents to something with a superior nose isn't possible since I don't know what it's actually smelling. It would be like a blind person trying to explain what colors are. Besides my semblance is mostly for sight and sound, simple touch if I really push it but taste and smell is mostly beyond my capabilities since it doesn't come up that often."
"Thanks for the rundown, but we need a pla—WATCH OUT!" Yang yelled.
Emerald saw something flying at her from the corner of her eye and twirled to avoid it. It wasn't perfect though. Her poncho fluttered outwards and the black streak sliced right through the side.
"You gotta be kidding me," Jaune cried as he saw what had won some of Emerald's clothing. They had been so focused on the immediate problem that they had forgotten just whose territory they were in, and Emerald had nearly paid the price for it.
This new grimm was a lot easier to categorize than whatever was lurking beneath them. It was shaped exactly like a hummingbird and was about half the size of him. The only parts of it that were armored were its beak and the front of its face, but what it lacked in defense it made up for in mobility easily weaving between Emerald's chained blades as she tried to swat it down. That would have been bad enough, but the hummingbird was even fast enough to slip through Emerald's guard and score a hit by using its beak like a rapier.
"Khe-khe-khe-khe."
"Just shut up!" Jaune yelled, stomping on the ground as if that would have done any good. He raced to help Emerald, the rain feeling like sweat on his face, but even with both of them engaged, the hummingbird evaded every swing like it was nothing.
"Can you use your semblance on this one?"
"If I stop to concentrate on that, this thing is going to skewer me. How about you use one of your tricks, Mister Magic Man," Emerald panted just as the grimm scored another hit on her shoulder.
If he could have he would have. Not even he could draw an etch on this muddy terrain, and the rain would just wash any attempt away anyways. "Then I'll cover you while you—"
The ground they were standing on slid and bulged. The hummingbird seemed to recognize what was going to happen as it took off into the stormy sky just as the monster from below made its appearance.
The creature had gotten greedy and had tried to go for both Emerald and him, and it was only because it had surfaced between them instead of on them that they had enough room to evade. If it had been the other way, one of them would have likely become grimm food.
"I've got you now!" Yang said, luging at the exposed grimm firing her gantlets off behind like they were rockets to increase her speed and lifting her off the ground somewhat. Jaune cringed at the ammo usage, but he was willing to leave it be when Yang actually made it to the grimm before it was able to delve back under.
Her eyes burned red as she delivered her hardest punch yet. The shockwave blew his and Emerald's hair back and even seemed to dispute the rain for a second…and yet the grimm stood strong. Smoke rose from the spot where Yang's fist had connected, but when she pulled it back there was only a small crack along the grimm's bone armor.
Unfortunately, despite the lack of any real damage, the grimm did not seem happy as it did its best attempt at narrowing its eyes. First, it bucked Yang off from her spot atop its head. Then instead of crawling back underground as they all expected, it fully emerged giving them their first look at its entire body.
Jaune first thought was porcupine. It would have been funny if the situation wasn't so serious, but the grimm entire body was covered in bone-tipped quills making it appear like a giant ball instead of whatever shape it actually was. How it moved underground so quickly was left a mystery since Jaune couldn't even see its feet underneath all its fluff.
However, it was that fluff that began to stiffen in their direction. There was about a second for them to process what was about to happen, and then all hell broke loose. Forget about a volley of arrows, the quills came out them like machine-gun bullets.
Jaune raised his shield to take the brunt of the barrage, but he was still battered in all the areas he couldn't block, practically his legs, and pushed back a few inches by the sheer volume of it all. He should have considered himself lucky that he was able to hide behind anything at all, though. Yang only had her gauntlets to help weather the storm and Emerald had resorted to swinging her weapons around wildly in hopes of knowing the quill off course.
They were pinned down for a little less than a minute, although it felt like an eternity, and there were points that he was afraid Yang's and Emerald' auras were going to break, but they held on. Jaune would have counted it a blessing that the assault ended when it did, but there had been no divine intervention. The only reason they weren't pin-cushions was because the grimm had run out of quill to shoot at them.
The area around them was littered with already dissolving quills, yet Jaune was horrified to see a new coat of them already beginning to grow on the grimm's now revealed cubby serpent-like body. "Khe-he-khe," it mocked before return to its home underground.
None of them tried to stop it from doing so as they took the time to catch their breaths.
Jaune kept his eyes on the hummingbird still flying above them. Emerald noticed where he was looking and fired off a quick pod shot. The results were exactly as expected.
"We're not going to be able to go on much longer," Emerald panted as she lowered her weapon.
"I know," Jaune admitted. Sandwiched between the ground and the sky was just about the worst position they could be in. "Let's try to focus on the bird for now. I don't think the other grimm it going to attack until its quills regrow."
Just then he felt a familiar vibration from the ground. "Or not." Jaune didn't want to let the panic show on his face but he couldn't stop it. If that grimm had already regrown its quill then this was going to become their gravesite. His senses worked in overdrive to try and figure out where the monster was going to emerge so he could do…something.
In the end, the grimm never surfaced at all. Instead the ground around Yang, who was a little farther away from him and Emerald, collapsed under her.
The damn grimm created a sinkhole!
Rainwater and mud funneled downward pushing Yang father into the hole and making it impossible to climb up. In fact, it was kind of like quicksand since the harder Yang struggled the faster she appeared to sink. Combined that with the edges of the hole continuing to crumble away, sending more mud and water into Yang's face, and it wouldn't be long until she suffocated. The grimm wouldn't even have to deliver the final blow.
Jaune rushed over to help her and the moment he did the hummingbird made its move. Fortunately, Jaune had learned from his mistakes and had never taken his attention completely off the bird. His sword met the grimm's beak in a brief clash. Unfortunately, the grimm was able to parry and quickly transition into a sharp poke into his chest. The bird really was like a fencer.
While Jaune was engaged with the bird Emerald had to decide whether to help Yang or help him. Normally the choice would have been obvious, but Emerald did recognize that Yang was in much more immediate danger.
She got as close to the sinkhole as she dared. Yang was still struggling to keep her head above the impressive amount of water that had already accumulated inside the pit. "Grab onto to this," Emerald said tossing her the only lifeline she had which was her weapon on the end of its chain. Perhaps not the safest method for rescuing someone but it would have to do.
"Thanks," Yang gurgled as another section of the ground collapsed and sent another stream of grass, mud, and water straight into her face.
"Thank me by moving your ass!" If that subterranean grimm decided to attack now…well let's just say the water would be gaining a reddish tint.
But, while Yang's situation might have been worse, Jaune's was hardly good. He and Emerald combined hadn't been able to hit this bird, so what hope did he have doing it alone? It was barely even worth swinging his sword since it only gave the grimm more of an opportunity to deliver its harsh pecks. They struck everywhere including one just above his eyebrow. Jaune didn't know if aura would protect his eyes from getting gouged out, but he really didn't want to test it.
He needed a plan, a good one. After all the abuse he had taken, even his large aura reserve was running low. His body felt slower and his sword felt heavier. If he was on the verge of collapse, he couldn't imagine how the girls were feeling. He caught a glimpse of them from the corner of his eye. Yang was about halfway up the crater and the subterranean grimm had yet to emerge which seemed to support Jaune's theory that it didn't want to truly reveal itself until it had fully regrown its weaponry.
The moment of gazing and insight had cost him another hit to his forearm, but honestly, even if his attention had been exclusively on this stupid bird, he still probably would have gotten hit. What he gained from his lapse, however, might have been the key he needed because along with the girls he had also spotted the pile of backpacks they had made before creating their original triangle formation. They gave him an idea and so far, it was the only one he had.
He dropped his shield and sword, watching them vanish from this realm, and sprinted towards the pile of backpacks. The bird was quick to follow, flapping away just behind his head. He didn't dare decrease his speed to look back, but he could still tell when the hummingbird was about to attack by the harsher beat of its wings right before it lunged. The first time he heard it he wasn't close enough to his goal and had no choice but to ride through the pain when the grimm took a stab at his unprotected neck.
But, the next time his flying friend was prepared to attack, he was just close enough. Both of them dived forward, Jaune for the backpacks and the bird for him. Jaune made it just a tad bit sooner and was able to grab a pack to shove out in front of him.
The humming bird's beak pierced through it easily and was long enough to strike Jaune chest. His aura shimmered worse than he had ever seen before and he thought it was going to break for sure, but it held, if only barely.
Regardless he could let this chance go to waste. The bird's beak wasn't exactly stuck in the backpack, but it was definitely slower pulling its appendage back then it had ever been before. Slow enough that Jaune was able to let go of the backpack and grab ahold of its beak.
The grimm did not like this one bit. It ferociously pulled back and twisted every which way to get him to unhand it, and even though he felt like his arms were going to be ripped out of their sockets, he refused to let go.
The grimm flapping and flailing like mad redoubled its efforts pushing forward so suddenly that Jaune's hands slipped farther down its beak and it almost ended up impaling him. Then the grimm yanked back and he almost lost it. It was then that he realized his plan had a fatal flaw. He might have gotten ahold of the grimm, but he didn't have a way to kill it.
The grimm jerked again and he knew it wouldn't be long until his grip gave out. This was going to be the end of him…or it would have been if a golden fist didn't rush in to save him. Yang screamed as the creature she punched exploded into a cloud of feathers. After that, she dropped her shoulders and let out several harsh breaths.
"Um, thanks for the save," Jaune said feeling a little awkward now that he was holding a white stick with a backpack on one end of it.
"I'm not sure if it really matters," Yang said catching her breath and standing up as straight as she could. "The real problem is still swimming around beneath us."
"Yeah that," he sighed tossing the separated beak to the side and getting to his feet. It was a much harder task than he thought it was going to be and nearly tripped into Yang. Luckily, she caught him and helped get him on his feet proper.
"You're not doing too good, are you?"
"No, I'm not. My aura is basically empty. What about you?"
"Ready to go. I'm going to send that grimm flying all the way to Cryphilictal." Yang pumped her fist in the air in a way that was just a little too preppy to feel genuine. She seemed to realize that too as her mood started to droop. "Although if that doesn't happen soon I'm probably going to collapse."
That's right, Yang had briefly talked about her semblance during their travels. She could use the damage she took to strengthen her own attacks and they had all taken a lot of that. It was very possible that she might have the power to break through the grimm's armor this time around, but that was dependent on her actually being able to hit it. Evidenced by the fact it hadn't attacked them for a while, it was clear that it was being much more cautious ever since it got damaged. They needed a way to catch it.
Jaune thought and thought going over everything he knew and everything he saw, and slowly the gears slid into place. A smile that would have been a better fit on a mad scientist found its way onto his face.
"I have an idea, but we're going to need to work together."
"We've already been doing that."
"No, we've been keeping out of each other's way trusting in our own individual power to get us through. Together but separate. That has to stop. We're going to have to become a real team using actual teamwork, and that means we have to believe in each other absolutely. You're going to have to trust Emerald and me with your life."
Yang hesitant for a moment, the last time she had trusted someone who claimed to be her teammate they had run off the moment things got bad, but she quickly steeled herself. This wasn't the time to be thinking about that. "Alright, I'll do it. This way if I die, I can tell my mom that it was all your fault."
Jaune chuckled despite himself. "Good to know that even in the afterlife you're making plans to throw me under the bus."
"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."
"I bet, but here's what I've got in mind…"
Emerald had just finished making sure all her limbs weren't actually on fire when Jaune and Yang approached her.
"What the hell are you doing?" Emerald gasped her mouth sitting wide open as she tried to comprehend the sight she was seeing.
"I need one of your weapons," Jaune calmly stated despite currently being given a piggy-back ride by Yang.
"May I ask why?"
"I have an idea." Emerald waited patiently as Jaune explained what he planned to do. Surprisingly, she didn't have to yell out him for being stupid or unnecessarily reckless. It actually had some solid and clever ideas. That being said, it sounded absolutely ridiculous being spoken out loud.
"Either this doesn't work and we all die, or this does working and I'll refuse to believe that we live in a world that allowed it to," Emerald said handing Jaune one of her weapons
"It'll work, I promise."
"I'm just wondering if the blonde on the bottom really has the strength to pull this off."
"I'll be fine. It's your weapon I'm worried isn't going to be able to hold out."
With the pre-battle batter completed the Yang and Jaune stack separated from Emerald while Jaune drew a nearly completed etch on the underside of Emerald blade using his poncho to protect it from the rain.
"Khe-he-khe"
"Looks like our friend has regrown its coat," Yang mentioned.
"Let's just hope it goes for us. If it starts with Emerald or decides to go for another round of quill machine gun, we're dead," Jaune said going over the etch one more time to make sure everything was perfect.
"It will. Two injured people standing in the exact same place and not moving, it won't be able to resist."
Yang was proven right when, a few seconds later, the ground beneath rumbled.
"It's showtime!" Yang pointed her weapons to the ground, and right before the grimm's jaw broke the surface, she opened fire. The shotgun shells didn't deter the grimm in the slightest, but that hadn't been the point. Instead, the grimm was surprised to learn that its meal that had been within its reach just a moment before was now a couple of feet in the air using the power of the Yang propulsion system, as she had nicknamed it.
Hovering above the grimm's face, Jaune could see through its open mouth and down its slimy throat. It was just how he wanted it. Finishing the last mark on the etch he fired Emerald's blade into its mouth.
The etch that was drawn on Emerald's blade was a simple one, something he had been able to make since the being. It could have just as easily been done with regular gravity dust. The etch's only goal was to pull a smaller object to larger ones, and that's exactly what it did.
Once the blade was past the grimm's teeth it stuck to the top on its mouth like a magnet and refused to move. The grimm, knowing something was wrong, bit down and dived back underground. Unfortunately, there was now a sturdy chain connecting them to the grimm.
"You're up," Jaune said handing Yang Emerald's weapon as they landed on the ground and he hopped off her back.
"I'm reeling in a big one today," she laughed maniacally as her hair burst into flames and she pulled on Emerald weapon like it was a fishing pole. The chain connecting the blade to the body gave a screeching yell of protest as it had never been forced to support something so large, but it held firm.
"It's a feisty one," Yang crackled as she planted her feet into the muddy ground as best she could. Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for a person to try and pull in a grimm of that size, but these were not normal circumstances. Yang was using her semblance in a way she had never done before. She knew her semblance gave her monstrous strength but she had always had used it to dish the damage she had received back out. Never would she have thought to use in a game of tug-of-war against a grimm, but you know what, it was exciting and even more importantly it was working.
The grimm was forced from its burrow, kicking and screaming the entire way. First came its alligator-like head and then slowly its fully quilled body popping out of the mud like a worm. It tore up the ground, twisted its head and chewed on in chain doing everything it could to break free.
It was all for not. No matter how much it trashed and pulled the chain proved stronger and Yang even more than that. Finally, recognizing that it wasn't going to get away without drastic measures, the grimm stiffed it quills towards yang.
It was exactly what they had been waiting for.
With the quill standing at attention and only armored at the very tips they were very susceptible to a perpendicular attack, and that's just what Emerald delivered. Swinging her weapon in a large arc she cut off a section of the grimm's quills before it could fire them. It was like shaving a dog. The quills fell to the ground and began their dissolving process, but what was left behind was an area of smooth unprotected flesh, and that's where Crocea Mors found itself lodged.
The grimm bucked in pain and tried to strike at Jaune but its head movements were still being restricted by Yang. The grimm refocused on the source of all its problems and prepared to fire its quills, but before it could Yang simply ran a quarter of a circle around the grimm forcing it to move along with her and thus completely throwing off its aim. While that was going on, Emerald cut off another section of quills and Jaune stabbed the soft bits he was presented with.
Rinse and repeat.
It was a death by a thousand cuts as Emerald continued to shave off its weapons and armor. Eventually, seeing no other options, the grimm gave out its final death cry shooting out all of its quills in a dome around it. A death cry was really all it was thought. With a lot of its quills already gone and no aiming going into its attack even Yang, who was literally chained to the beast, had no problems avoiding it.
After that, there was nothing left but for Emerald and Jaune to keep slicing until it stopped moving, and soon enough it did.
Yang stood ready just in case the grimm was faking, but when she saw the black smoke started to pool off its corpse, she collapsed to the ground, for the first time in a long time, not caring that her hair was going to get dirty because of it.
Jaune and Emerald shambled in beside her.
"I can't believe we did that," Yang said.
"I can't believe you used my weapon as a fishing pole," Emerald said with fake anger.
All of them were dirty with mud caked up to their knees, sweat and rain dripping down their faces and aura that was near depletion, yet all three of them had smiles.
"Is this what it's always like for you two?" Yang asked still riding the high of their conquest. She was acting like a little kid waiting to open her birthday presents.
After their victory, there had still been an hour or two left of the day, but none of them had been in a condition to travel anymore, so they had only moved far enough away to where any grimm coming to investigate the battlefield wouldn't spot them. The three of them were crammed inside a tent that was really only meant to house two while the storm still raged outside, but even the tight living space didn't do anything to dampen Yang's mood.
"Not really," Emerald answered. "dealing with grimm is what your job is for, but if you're asking if it always gets this crazy, it does. Trust me, you haven't seen anything yet. We're missing all the strange magic or otherworldly creatures."
Yang's eyes practically glowed in euphoria. All thoughts of her sister back in Vale and the death that was probably awaiting them a couple of miles away were gone for the moment. Emerald wasn't cruel enough to remind her of them, but she wanted to know why Yang was getting such a kick from this.
"You seem excited about this."
Yang's eyes darted downwards and her lips parted like she had just realized that herself, but her brief confusion gave way to a cheerful smile. "You caught me. It might sound childish but this has always kind of been my dream. An adventure where I'm free to explore and do what I want. It's the reason I became a huntress."
She would have never dared to say something so personal even earlier today, but feelings had changed after their nearly lost fight. The comradery Jaune had been hoping for had perhaps started to develop. It wasn't perfect, Emerald still thought bitterly about Yang's failure to catch Jaune, but the shimmering dislike between the two girls had evaporated.
But back to the topic at hand, Emerald wasn't complete unacquainted with Yang's feelings of grand adventure. She had joined Jaune on his escapades because she couldn't imagine living an entirely peaceful life. This, however, felt like it was going too far.
"Well your certainty on an adventure now," Emerald said deciding not to give Yang's preferences too much weight. "Probably the greatest adventure there is."
"It's Yang-tastic isn't it?"
The atmosphere in the tent changed instantly.
"Did you…did you just make a pun?"
"I sure did," she said like all was right in the universe.
"Why?"
"Because it's puny."
They weren't even original or clever. You could have found them on the back of a cereal box.
"I don't suppose you'd be willing not to," Emerald asked just to make sure.
"Why not? It's not like I'm Robin you of anything."
Emerald tensed as the mood changed once again. Yang had mentioned something she shouldn't have—couldn't have. Emerald had never talked about her original mentor to anyone besides Jaune on that unfortunate day in Bury. It could just be a coincidence but that didn't make any sense. Puns worked by substituting a word for a different one that the listener would recognize. It would be weird for Yang to replace robbing with Robin for no reason, even if they did sound similar, and judging from the way Yang was currently reacting to her own pun, it hadn't been a random chance.
"How do you know that name?" Emerald asked softly.
Yang's mouth flapped like a fish as she tried to come up with a suitable answer. "I-I don't know. I just knew she was someone important to you."
Emerald frowned deepen.
"Hey, maybe it was just an accident," she said trying to explain it away. As if something like that could just be an accident. "I know let's test him." She pointed over towards Jaune, who had been pretty silent so far, curled up into his corner trying to get some sleep. This sudden situation had caught his attention, though.
"What color is my underwear," Yang asked him with a playful smile.
Under any other circumstances, he would have given a random guess and laughed it off, but he found he didn't need to guess. At that moment, he knew with absolute certainty what color Yang's underwear was. "Purple."
Yang dropped her arm, all the cheer for before nowhere to be found. "You didn't happen to sneak a peek while I was changing, did you?" She had never looked so hopeful for anything.
"No, I didn't," Jaune said, and Yang knew he was telling the truth.
"What's happening?" Emerald asked, worriedly. They all were. No one wanted private information about themselves to just leak out. They had just started to get along and this sudden knowing was threatening that.
Jaune didn't know what was happening, this knowing apparently wasn't that convenient, but he did have a pretty good guess. "I think we've finally entered Cryphilictal's territory."
"Are we going to have to deal with the whole time?" Yang asked suddenly aware that Jaune needed to go to the bathroom but didn't want to go out into the storm to take care of it.
"Maybe," Jaune said his focus already waning as sleep beckoned him. "Let's just try not to think about it and go to sleep."
There was no way not to think about it but they tried anyways. Sleep didn't come easy as little bits of knowledge worked their way into each of their minds. Nothing too important but strange and concerning nonetheless.
Just to name a few, Jaune knew that Whitley's negotiations with Ironwood were going well and his father was very happy with him. Jacques Schnee was also planning to cut off his daughter's financial support if she didn't stop ignoring him.
Emerald knew that Roman Torchwick was finishing a scroll with someone he didn't much like, and Neo was playing with her weapon behind him thinking about a certain stray that was snooping around their White Fang recruitment rallies.
Yang knew that her dad and uncle Qrow had arrived at Beacon to look after Ruby, and her dad was wondering what the hell his eldest daughter was up to. He was very worried. The whole situation reminded him of the closing days with each of their mothers.
They all came to know that it wasn't them closing in on Cryphilictal but the other way around.
Cryphilictal was closing in on them.
Excerpt from the book
There is a new theory making the rounds as of late and unlike the usual crack based musings, this one holds some water. It is called attunement and it's a relatively simple concept, but has some interesting implications if proven to be true.
Basically, it has been demonstrated that as a caretaker, and assumedly any other magical creature, grows older and more experienced, some spells will grow more powerful despite nothing changing in their construction. For a long time, it was thought to be like a muscle where the more you used it the stronger it would be and it was exposure alone that was responsible, but that created a conundrum where some magic didn't grow stronger no matter how much the user blasted away. This was made even more puzzling because the types of magic that improved seemed to differ between individuals.
In order to rectify this problem, the new thought that has emerged says that people actually are better synced, or attuned, to certain types of magic. Whether attunement happens before one even knows of magic or is something that develops while using it is up for debate along with the whole theory itself, but this does answer questions that have long plagued the mind of the so-called "elite magic researchers."
For one it might explain why many species of otherworldly creatures only use certain types of magic despite multiple investigations showing that mankind is not unique in its ability to learn all different types of magical structures. Many creatures are capable of performing other types of magic, but they simply choose not to. Is it because they are attuned to their specific types? Are humans and faunus the unnatural ones for trying to branch out?
Possibly, but the unquenchable desire to keep moving forwards and outwards no matter the cost has always been humanity's greatest strength and it would seem silly to try and halt it now.