Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions
Co-Authored with ToxicExotic
Though I altered a few things, inspiration for this Grimm goes entirely to the artist of the picture linked below.
imgur com/a/L1MT9Rz
Desires (Part 2)
Ruby felt the fast wind push her hood down as she soared towards the creature at breakneck speeds. All it would take is one strike through the Mantid Grimm's thin body and it would be cleaved in half, usually a rather difficult things to do, but that was why she'd made sure to encase its head in stone first. Blind and Strike was always the best tactic for a solo Grimm. So rearing her scythe back as she approached, she swung forwards in a graceful arc to slice the thing in two.
Unfortunately, just as what tended to happen, not everything went to plan. Though the Grimm remained blinded, it turned to face away from her and brought its armor-covered abdomen up to block the hit. Feeling the scythe glance off the armor, she shifted her weight enough to let it roll along the long body and fired off another shot, this one sending her spinning into the air. Landing a short distance away facing the creature, she saw the rock around its head crumble and a small flood of viscous green liquid fell to the floor; smoke rising as the grass withered at its touch.
With no down time at all, the nine foot tall creature flattened its body and began to charge at her. Seeing movement from the corner of her eye, Ruby jumped. As if by instinct, her arm reaching out to grab the sickle that had been thrown and was immediately pulled away from the grotesque insect just in time to avoid the abdomen as it twisted to hit her again. Landing next to Blake, she saw the creature crash through a table that had somehow survived Yang's tussle the previous day.
"I've never fought one of these," Blake said quickly as the thing was already starting to recover. "What should I look out for?"
"Sharp claws, acid spit, and its mandibles are like a vice," Ruby relayed quickly. "Aim for the thin thorax."
"Movement and vision?"
"Three-sixty vision, but kinda slow. It's abdomen weighs a ton and slows it down, but also hits hard."
"Stay moving, got..."
Blake's words were cut off as they both jumped to the side to avoid a stream of liquid, the heat of the searing concoction warming Ruby's cheek despite being out of its range. Time for relaying information was over and Ruby stepped forward to intercept the already close Grimm. It may have been slow by Grimm standards, but it was still faster than your average animal and could close gaps quickly when needed. As a claw descended upon her, she gave Crescent Rose a spin to knock it away with the butt of the scythe's hook and allowed the momentum to drag her backwards, out of the range of the other claw that had followed. Flipping backward, she dug the tip of her weapon into the grass to anchor herself and fired off a shot the moment her feet hit solid ground, the bullet striking the white, armored head and forcing it to recoil.
Not wasting a second of the opening, Blake ran past her and made an attempt at the thin body only for a pair of wings to erupt behind it and flutter hard enough to drag it backward, causing her strike to miss. Correcting herself instantly with a slight pirouette, she raised her sword at block the downwards strike of the two claws and effortlessly rolled to the side. Seeing an opening, Ruby fired another shot only for the creature to duck below it. Just like before, it began to charge.
This time she waited until it was close before jumping to land on its heavy abdomen, but before she could do anything it had already raised it head and span it completely around to look at her. Glowing red bore into her own silver and she knew she couldn't dodge as a jet of acid hit her chest so activated her aura instead. Feeling the liquid burn despite her aura protecting her from actual harm, Ruby jumped back and landed near the broken table just as another stream was sent her way. This time she was prepared and her scythe was already in motion, the two fangs of the hook digging into the broken table top and bringing it up to block the attack; the wood bursting into flames instantly.
To compensate for its legs unable to turn it quick enough, the veiny black wings erupted from its back again and lifted it an inch off the ground, but Blake was ready. Using her own semblance to boost her speed, she sprinted past and slashed out, her blade cutting the thin wings off and grounding it. Seemingly annoyed by this, the Mantid leaped forward in an attempt to crush her, but Blake merely faded into shadow and the real one appeared at Ruby's side.
"It's being too defensive for us to get to the thorax. We need those claws out of the way," Ruby said, wiping the gunk off her front so she could conserve more aura. "I can do that, if you can get the body?"
"I'll follow your lead," Blake nodded, her words punctuated by a small chattering as the creature turned to face them again.
"I only have three rounds left, so give me cover fire until I create an opening," Ruby instructed as the Grimm sized them up, knowing that Blake had more ammunition on her than she did. "You'll know when to strike."
Blake collapsed her weapon into its gun mode at the order and took off to the right while Ruby sped straight at the creature. As she predicted, it tried for another downward strike and she nimbly dodged it with a simple lean and brought her scythe up. Once again the beast went into a defensive stance and caught the blade with its other claw, attempting to toss her aside. Taking it in stride, she leapt up to let the force carry her body around and shoved both of her feet into the creatures face. It didn't do much due to the size difference, but it was enough for her to push herself away and slip Crescent Rose free just as three shots collided with the white plating. Not wanting to waste the opening, Ruby fired off a shot of her own as she landed and the creature stumbled from the impact.
With that however came its abdomen, which swung around at such a speed that Ruby barely managed to jump up in time. Barely clearing the incoming object, her scythe hooked around a leg and severed it cleanly as more shots from Blake landed in the back of the vile thing's head. With it off balance and injured, Ruby knew she was ready and rolled back into range of its claws. They were the only way through, as any attack from behind would be met with acid, and she needed to do as she said and get them out of the way. With its mobility hindered the creature scuttled backwards a little and Ruby advanced; her scythe slashing out, but each attack was blocked by the creature's quick claws. With each deflection, the Mantid would try for one of its own but she danced her way between them as Blake littered the insect's head with bullets to keep it confused.
Finally she saw her opening. The creature tried to lay its body down on top of her, but she repelled it with another smack from the butt of her weapon's head which, just as she planned, was blocked. The block forced the Mantid to rear up further, its claws going above its head and with a graceful spin, she let her scythe head crack back into its extended form and cleaved a perfect diagonal arc towards the thorax. She didn't intend it to kill as she knew it would be blocked again, but it was that block she needed. The claws instantly shot back down and caught it as the body flattened to the ground and the vice-like mandibles clamped down on the blade.
That was the creature's last mistake.
Triggering the transform mechanism, that she had purposely designed to have a little more kick than it probably should have, she hopped and let the force pull her around as Crescent Rose straightened out. Once it was locked into place in its normal form, she let herself fall a little while holding the grip and jammed her feet against the back of the Grimm's head while pulling her scythe back and letting off another shot.
The kickback caused the grip of Crescent Rose to jut backwards, making the creature's whole torso bend until she was laid against the armor of it large abdomen. With its head unable to turn due to her feet keeping it locked facing away, and it's claws unable to defend its thorax, it was practically defenceless. And Blake didn't miss a beat.
Before Ruby's back was even fully against the armor, Blake appeared in the air; her weapon sheathed and spinning fast. Ruby recognised the move and at the opportune time fired off a shot, her last bullet, that struck the end of Blake's sheath, the extra force making her spin even faster as she descended, until the moment came. Less than a meter away, she unsheathed her weapon in one fluid movement and both her blades struck their mark, cutting through the thorax like butter and leaving behind a trail of purple light from the force of the attack.
Feeling the slack as the body split in two, Ruby tumbled backwards but quickly turned it into a roll, landing on her feet in time to see the Grimm fading into smoke. The battle had not been long, not much more than a minute in fact, but Ruby couldn't help but breathe deeply. Mantids weren't the hardest Grimm ever, but even the weak ones still put up a hell of a fight.
"Not too bad," Ruby heard Blake say while she was bent over and checking her precious scythe for scratches. Seeing none, she let out a relieved breath and straightened herself up. "I still prefer Beow…"
Blake cut out and quickly turned around, but not before Ruby saw her eyes narrow and her ears flatten. Looking around for what had caused such a reaction, she quickly found it and blushed a deep scarlet. She thought she'd removed all the acid from her chest before turning her aura off, but it appeared she had missed a bit, and it had burned a hole in her hoodie. Almost the entire left side of her bra and part of her stomach were visible and Blake had received a full shot of the lacey material that was just as scarlet as her face likely was.
Idiot, she thought to herself as she covered herself up and turned away from Blake to head into the house and get a new hoodie that didn't expose her so much.
"Idiot," Yang's scolding words caused Ruby to visibly flinch as the blonde shoveled bacon into the reaper's plate, Ruby quickly picking up a piece and sucking on it with a frown. "What has dad said about rushing in without a plan?"
"I had a plan," Ruby countered, though the sting of her tone was lost as she was clearly enjoying the food. "It just didn't work out, so I made another. It's not like you ever have a plan."
"I always have a plan," Yang replied and turned back to get the eggs.
"Punch it till it dies isn't a plan," Blake answered, taking a bite of her own food. Yang may not seem like the kind, but she was actually a rather decent cook. "More a motto than anything."
"Don't you take her side," the boxer scowled and scooped and egg onto her sister's plate. "I was watching from here, she rushed in foolishly and gave the advantage to the Mantid."
"She did," Blake admitted, earning a sad look from her girlfriend. "But she knew I was there to help fill in the gaps, and was quick to correct her plan. Signs of a good leader if you ask me."
Yang glared at her for a second, though the action was clearly for show as there was no annoyance behind her lilac eyes, until she finally let out a sigh and placed what was left of the food onto a third plate and sat down at the table.
"This is gonna happen a lot now, isn't it?"
"What?" Ruby asked.
"You two siding with each other."
"Probably," Blake smirked at her partner as a pained look passed over her eyes. "Get used to it."
"I can't believe I miss Weiss already," Yang replied with a roll of her eyes.
Feeling a little smile pull at her lips, Blake continued pecking at her food as the three of them passed idle chit chat. She still couldn't remember when it had started to feel so normal to joke and mess around with her team, but she couldn't say she disliked it. It felt like years since she'd had anything of the sort, as even her final years in the White Fang were barely spent with anyone she considered friends. The team certainly had their falling outs or disputes, like Yang's earlier annoyance, but they always passed and Blake always felt a sigh of relief when they did. Ruby and Yang were the biggest example of that.
Most likely due to them being sisters, the two fell out with each other constantly over very minor stuff such as broken mugs or ripped pictures, but the fights rarely lasted a day before they were laughing with each other again. Every relationship on the team seemed to have taken on those aspects too, the minor falling outs, the quick mending of fences, and it was more confirmation to Blake that they were becoming what Yang had said at the party. They weren't friends to her anymore, they were sisters. With the exception of Ruby of course.
People didn't feel about their sisters how Blake felt about Ruby, well not most people anyway. Ruby had become something more altogether. She was her first thought when she woke up in the morning, the person who drew her eyes without fail when she entered a room. Talking to her was more than enough to put a smile on her face and she found herself seeking those moments more and more. It scared her a little as she remembered just how fast she had fallen for Adam, but she also found comfort in knowing Ruby was nothing like that. With Ruby she could be herself and didn't have to worry about hiding things or appearing strong.
That wasn't to say she wasn't still holding back though in a few areas though. Blake still wasn't sure what Ruby was ready for or not, and didn't want to push anything. Kissing seemed fine, Ruby even seemed to like when Blake kissed her, but even those kisses were a little tame. But then there were other things that, while knowing they were very far away, Blake couldn't stop invading her mind. Like the incident that had taken place less than an hour ago.
Despite how she portrayed herself, Blake certainly wasn't void of desire, that much would be obvious to anyone who looked at her book collection; but after noticing the state of Ruby's hoodie, Blake had to practically force herself to turn around to be respectful. It may as well have been more than she had seen when Ruby accidentally poked her head out of the bathroom because at least then there had been nothing to see, nothing to make out. This time however, most of the lace bra was visible and Blake's eyes had lingered a little too long and allowed her mind to formulate everything the curves represented.
She knew Ruby didn't mind at all, that accidents like that happened and that even she had those thoughts, but hers had lingered during the entire time they spent cleaning the backyard; despite her best attempts to get rid of them. For all the freedom she felt with Ruby, she still couldn't help chastise herself for letting those thoughts continue for so long. She knew that she really needed to get them under control if she was going to keep her self-imposed promise to let Ruby always take that first step.
"Remnant to Blake!" The loud voice of Yang startled her out of her thoughts and she looked at her partner with confused eyes. "Jeez, been a while since you dipped out like that."
"Huh?" Blake looked around and saw that they were alone and Yang was collecting the empty plates. She did have a tendency to get lost in her head, but Yang was right in saying that it hadn't happened in a while. "Sorry, where did Ruby go?"
"Upstairs to clean up," Yang replied and slipped the plates into the sink. "Something bothering you?"
"Not bothering, per say," Blake sighed and stood up to walk over to her partner. "Just something on my mind."
"Would that something be this," Yang grinned and pulled the ruined hoodie from the nearby bin. "Bet ya got an eyeful, huh?"
"Shut up," Blake rolled her eyes as Yang pressed the red fabric against her chest.
"Oh come on, you both looked so adorable freaking out over a little bra shot," Yang laughed and threw the scorched remains aside. "Was standing there trying not to crack when Ruby ran though."
"Well it's not funny to me," Blake said firmly, causing the laughter to stop immediately. "It's actually a little frustrating."
"Right…" Yang sighed, and turned the tap on to wash the plates. "Forgot you have that weird thing about Ruby making all the first moves."
"It's not weird, it's right," Blake countered and handed Yang the washing up liquid.
"If you say so," Yang shrugged. "You'll probably find it weird having this convo with me and I'm not gonna tell you to go bonk my sister, because that would be even weirder, but what I will say is that if you're waiting for Ruby to make all the first moves, then you will be waiting for a long while. She has no idea what she is doing in that area."
"We have only just kissed, Yang," Blake argued, pulling open a drawer that Yang was pointing to and taking out a towel. "I'm fine waiting a while for whatever comes next, doesn't mean it's not hard though."
"That's what he said," Yang chuckled, but quickly raised her arms. "Sorry, couldn't resist. But seriously, relationships are a give and take. You both need to take risks and know where those lines are. Ruby will say if its too far for her, so stop being scared to explore where those lines are if that is what is what you want. As much as I hate to admit it, Ruby isn't a kid."
As Yang washed the dishes, Blake took a second to think on what she had just said. It certainly made more sense than her current decision, but she couldn't help feel hers was more right. She was Ruby's first girlfriend, she deserved the right to explore on her own accord and not because her partner wanted too.
"You're right," Blake sighed, getting the hint that Yang wanted her to dry the china as the blonde placed them on the counter. "Talking to you about this is weird. Can we change the subject?"
"Sure," Yang shrugged again and began on the pan. "Wanna tell me what made Ruby rush in like that?"
"Oh," Blake exclaimed, slowly going over the plates to make sure she got every little part. "The flowerbed broke yesterday in your fight and she was kinda upset about it."
"Fuck," the brawler breathed, the disappointment in herself obvious. "I didn't even see that."
"We collected all the parts in a towel outside, if that helps?"
"I'll sort it out later," Yang sighed, placing the now clean pan between the tap and the windowsill to dry on its own. "Thanks though."
"No problem," Blake smiled kindly and placed the towel aside. "I'm gonna go clean up too."
"Alright."
Walking away from her partner, she turned back as she reached the door and saw Yang leaning over the counter with her head hung low. Clearly the girl was upset about the flowerbed too, so Blake left the room to give her some space. From the sounds of it, Ruby was cleaning up in the upstairs bathroom, so she quickly altered her path to the downstairs one grabbing her things from her backpack in the living room.
May as well think about what Yang said while I'm in there.
Raalm's Notes
Hello everyone, Raalm here. So as I've said before, there will be more of their Huntress duties this arc, which means more fight scenes. So please tell me what you thought of this as that is rather important information. I tray to keep everything as easy to follow as I can, but I know I'm not the best at fight scenes, so anywhere I can improve is great. But anyway, this was a little glimpse at some of the things that will be dealt with this arc. Ruby and Blake may be past their second date, but they are both a little different when it comes what they are ready for, so I hope you enjoyed. Yang is there being the supportive friend and sister, as always though xD
But anyway, that's mainly it for me. I hope you enjoyed, as there is some stuff coming up that I'm excited for, and please let me know what you thought of the fight scene.
Toxic's Notes
Heyo! Nice to see everyone again. So This one was a bit short but there are chapters coming up that are really long, also small hint, there might be something that pushes the two closer than they are ready for soon. That reaction is still getting written tho, as of right now 20 is under work, and 19 is undergoing edits, so more then ever this story is running out of buffer, so probably won't do another early release for a bit. Anyway love y'all hope all US based readers had a nice thanksgiving. If not, Well I wish you luck.