A/N: Happy holidays! Here's a bit of a longer chapter for you all this festive season. I hope you enjoy, and do let me know what you think!
Laws of Attraction
"Alright everyone, we have to keep moving," Ruby called as they bolted through the undergrowth.
"Does anyone even know where we're going?" Jaune cried, panting heavily.
"No," Pyrrha acknowledged ruefully, keeping her pace steady amongst the crowd. "We were purposefully flung to odd ends of the forest- none of us had the opportunity to scout out the direct route back to Beacon."
"Ugh, of course," he bitterly replied, "that would be far too easy."
"But isn't this fun?" Nora called, gleefully skipping. Pyrrha sighed, watching the girl easily keep up with everyone using her long strides. Ren, on the other hand, was not having a good time as he ran desperately behind her, his breaths becoming more and more ragged as they went.
Suddenly, the group burst out of the forest and into another developed clearing- at least, a formerly developed one. Ruined structures, many carved with the same runes and glyphs as the temple altars, lay sprawled out before a large canyon. They funneled the remaining path on either side towards the looming drop ahead, fog curling up from the colder temperature below. It matched the graying skies which had taken over the afternoon whilst they were running.
In the center of the canyon was a tall, intermediary pillar, connecting to either side with intricate webs of stone bridges. Pyrrha craned her neck, trying to see past tall colonnades to the other edges of the cliff. Familiar figures caught her eye in the high distance, but they made no move to aid the youths. "Look!" she cried, determination welling up in her once more. If they were this close to Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch, that meant they were almost free. "We're almost back!"
A chorus of whoops and cheers echoed through the group, but just as quickly, the screech of the Nevermore was back to haunt them. Its large shadow began to catch up with the students now that they were free of the trees' protection. "Scatter!" Jaune yelled, throwing himself to the sides of the ruins. The group obeyed, each pair finding shelter behind the tall, weathered stones in order to hide from the creature. Immediately, the Grimm cawed, swooped around, and perched upon the center station in the canyon, trying to spot them in hiding.
Pyrrha heard Yang yell, "Well, that's great!"
"What do we do?" Pyrrha murmured, mind racing with possibilities. She sighed, shifting Miló into a rifle- she knew exactly what she could escape on her own, but a stealthy escape was impossible with this many in their team. How would they manoeuvre eight different people who had never before fought together in order to take this beast down? Think, Pyrrha, think- you're called the number one warrior of your generation, think dammit-
"There's nothing we can do about the Nevermore," Jaune muttered. "Not unless we take out its wings."
"Which isn't logical," she said bluntly. "We need to kill it to get rid of it. What else?"
"Um, let me think," he said, frantically wracking his brain. Suddenly, he perked up. "The Nevermore isn't a problem we can deal with right now… but we might be able to take out the Death Stalker."
She leaned forward eagerly. "Explain."
He wilted a little under her gaze, but said, "Well… it's a cave creature. The eyes must be really sensitive… and although the claws are dangerous in close-combat, the stinger is what we should go for."
She smiled wide, a newfound appreciation flooding through her. Although he had shown nothing but fear and hesitation when they were making the journey, it was clear that he was able to keep his head in battle. All of his deductions made sense, after all.
"Everyone!" She raised her voice so everyone in the clearing could hear her. "The Nevermore can only be defeated by killing or majorly incapacitating it- aim for the head or wings! The Death Stalker will catch up soon. Aim for the eyes and stinger, and stay out of its claws!"
"Got it!" "Will do!" "Thanks!" a myriad of voices called, the same determination resonating through each of them. Although it was rudimentary, they had a plan- they knew what to aim for. She turned back to Jaune, smiling, before her battle mask slipped on once more. With a plan, she could do what needed to be done. "Thanks, Jaune."
"Thank me if we don't die, Pyrrha," he whimpered. The crashes from the forest (which were becoming far too familiar to Pyrrha for her liking) brought despair to Jaune's face as he perched beside her. "Aw, man, run!" he cried as the Death Stalker plowed the trees they had just escaped from.
With his signal, the entire group leapt out of their hiding places and sprinted towards the center of the field. Pyrrha looked at the avian creature's position through her scope, but the Grimm was hidden behind tall columns. She couldn't take it out now. However, the Nevermore was watching for its prey- its keen eyes caught sight of the warriors, immediately taking flight from its perch to swoop in on them.
Ren ordered without hesitation, "Nora, distract it!"
Pyrrha stowed Miló away, grabbed Jaune's arm and tugged him towards the center platform at the edge of the cliff, followed by Yang and Ruby joining them from the other side. The Nevermore screamed, voice echoing through the canyon, before sending a volley of razor-sharp feathers to slice them up. "The Death Stalker is too wide to fit on the bridge," she explained to Jaune. "Once we hit the bridge, we don't have to worry about it."
"Got it," he said, running with all his might.
With a quick glance backwards, Pyrrha saw Nora standing her ground, happily pumping grenades into the Nevermore's startled mask to draw its attention. Then there was the clash of steel, and the Death Stalker roared loudly.
As they reached the bridge, Pyrrha cast a look back to her comrades. The Death Stalker was hot on Ren and Blake's tail, the two fighters barely keeping up. Of course they can't outrun that thing in an open area- I barely managed it earlier, she thought, but her nerves were cool, calm. "Go, go!" she called to Jaune. The blond nodded gravely, focusing on getting as far ahead as possible, while she stayed back, pulling Miló back into its rifle form with Akoúo resting comfortingly upon her arm.
Taking a knee, she barely paid any attention to the sweeping figures of Nora and Weiss barrelling past her right side. She shot round after round of red fire into the Death Stalker, but her shots missed its eyes as it ran closer and closer. Ren joined her, leaping forward and pulling out his twin blades to pump rounds into the creature's body, but the thick bone shell the Grimm had grown was too strong to even dent.
As Blake finally caught up to them, the Death Stalker threw out both its claws, ready to swipe at them all. "Back!" Pyrrha cried, turning on her heel. She threw Miló and Akoúo upon her back, willing them in place with her Semblance. The other two silently complied, and they managed to bolt past the deadly reach of the Grimm. It let out a mighty roar, but its giant, spindly legs stayed put, the creature scuttling along the edge of the cliff back and forth, but never daring to touch the bridge.
Unfortunately, they lost sight of something important in those few, precious seconds focused upon the Death Stalker. The eight of them made it all the way to the center of the bridge, halfway to the central connecting platform in the foggy canyon- but before they could get any further, the Nevermore flew down from their left, nothing but shadow filling their vision.
"Get out of the way!" Ruby screamed, and the group scattered along the bridge, the deafening crack of breaking stone and crumbling support beams shaking the entire structure under them. Pyrrha shook her head, clearing the ringing in her ears quickly, but she barely had any time to blink before a sweeping claw swung at her face.
Immediately, she rolled out of the way, pulled her weapons out, and took a knee to fire at the Death Stalker. Along with Blake, who was slicing at the creature's thick armour, and Ren, who was sending rapid-fire green bullets towards it, Pyrrha was stuck fighting the Death Stalker. "Eyes and stinger! Don't get in a claw!" she reiterated, the others grunting in acknowledgement as they focused on the fight. Distantly, she could hear Ruby, Yang and Weiss yelling as they fired their own weapons, presumably at the Nevermore- but for the moment, they were on their own until Pyrrha could take down the Death Stalker.
Blake couldn't even react as the monster threw her body back, nearly forcing the girl off the edge of the cliff. Seeing her taken out of action momentarily, Pyrrha stood, repositioning herself. The Grimm was becoming daring, edging further and further out onto the ledge.
Suddenly, another loud explosion broke over the din of gunfire filling the air, along with Jaune's voice desperately screaming, "No, no, no, no, no, no!"
And suddenly, Pyrrha had to stay her trigger finger when Nora appeared in her sight, slamming her hammer down onto the browbone of the scorpion Grimm. The creature hissed in pain, bringing its stinger down upon where she stood, so she leapt back, using her hammer's bullets to propel her out of its reach. Her body flew back to the edge of the bridge with another burst from her hammer to avoid a second strike, forcing the creature's tail to wedge itself into the ground. Everything was fine, until-
Nora's body hit Blake, and sent her body tumbling off the edge of the bridge. "Blake!" Jaune cried, but the girl was gone.
"Focus, everyone!" Pyrrha called calmly, watching the Death Stalker struggle to pull its stinger out of the ground. "She'll be fine." She has to be. We have a fight to win.
However, as the monster slowly pulled on its tail, more and more cracks began to web across the area they stood upon. It finally broke free, and the entire platform shifted, tilting ominously.
"We gotta move!" Jaune yelled, and Pyrrha strode forward, watching Nora, Ren and Jaune run by her side out of the corner of her eye.
With its right claw, it swiped at Pyrrha, but she barely registered it- her focus was solely fixated upon its ten eyes, calculating which one should be her target. Instinctively, she slid forward, allowing the strike to deflect off of a raised Akoúo. With a flick of the wrist to turn Miló back into a blade, she spun around and slashed at the softer, unprotected underside of the creature's claw, smiling in satisfaction as it screamed and retreated slightly. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched it raise its other claw. "Jaune, shield!" she yelled.
He looked flustered, but when he saw the Grimm bring down its left claw towards Pyrrha, Jaune blocked it with his own shield. The creature recoiled in surprise, giving her a brief moment- There!
With a wide jump, she spun and thrust her sword towards one of its larger eyes, but the Death Stalker merely shuffled to the side, her sword clanging off the bone.
From behind them, Ren's quick bullets and equally quick footsteps caught her attention. Pyrrha ducked and dove to the side, allowing the boy to aim freely at the creature's face. Annoyed by the interruption, the Grimm reared its stinger back and stabbed the ground where Ren stood.
Deftly, the green-suited boy dodged the blow and jumped onto the stinger, firing at the joint between the glowing yellow stinger and the tail mercilessly. The creature reached upwards, but Nora immediately pumped a few grenades into its claws, preventing it from attacking Ren. Making a shield for its face, the Death Stalker brought up both its claws, pushing Pyrrha and Jaune away.
Get the eyes, she thought to herself, mind calm while her heartbeat raced. Flicking Miló into its javelin form, she stood, aimed, breathed in, out- 1, 2-
And with a fierce yell, she threw the javelin straight through the monster's shielding claws and into its eye.
The monster screamed in pain, throwing Ren off its stinger as it flailed about. "Ren!" Nora screamed, but there was no response from the column where his body landed.
However, Ren had already finished the job for them. As the blond picked himself up off the ground, Pyrrha watched Jaune's eyes light up. She turned to look at the monster, finding the stinger dangling by merely a few threads of dark, bloody flesh from the end of its tail. Her eyes met with Jaune's, understanding flashing through the both of them.
Get the stinger.
"Pyrrha!" he cried.
"Done!" she yelled back, body already in position. She threw Akoúo, sending the shield spinning like a discus towards the monster- and with a light splatter of foul blood, it cut the creature's stinger clear off. She willed her shield back to her as the stinger fell upright upon the Death Stalker's head.
Without pausing, Jaune yelled, "Nora, nail it!"
"Heads up!" Nora replied, looking at Pyrrha. She wants a boost, she realized, and immediately Pyrrha was kneeling, shield facing upwards like a platform. She braced herself under Nora's incoming weight as the lithe girl leapt onto Akoúo, grunting with effort- but despite her exhausted muscles, Pyrrha gathered her energy, took a deep breath, and jumped.
The blast from Nora's hammer whizzed past Pyrrha's ear, but as she landed back onto the ground, her eyes were still fixated upon the graceful arc of Nora's form. The orange-haired girl's laugh bubbled down to them as she hit the peak of her ascension, before she straightened midair, fired another blast, and spun head over heels downwards to the creature. Without mercy, she slammed the stinger deep into the Death Stalker's skull, the force of her blow sending shockwaves throughout the earth and finally shattering the edge of the bridge they stood upon.
The momentum from her blow caused their end of the bridge to shoot upwards, sending Pyrrha spiralling through the air, Jaune by her side, right over the creature's head. There were no more cries from the monster as the remaining bridge crumbled under its weight, eventually giving way and falling into the abyss below.
Pyrrha landed with ease, crouching. Right behind her was Jaune and Nora- and, as Ren stumbled out towards them, Pyrrha felt herself relax. They had done it, somehow. It was over.
But then, more gunfire and screeching caught their attention. Ren collapsed, still wounded from having the wind knocked out of him by the scorpion-like Grimm. Pyrrha turned and stood slowly, watching the other fight unfolding before them.
Upon the highest point of the center platform, Yang was pumping bullet after bullet into the Nevermore. "Should we go help them?" Jaune panted, finally getting to his feet all the way.
Pyrrha shook her head, although he couldn't see her. Her Aura was almost at dangerous levels, and there was no way Ren or Jaune could fight again for the moment. Rejoining the others immediately wasn't an option, either- their battle had destroyed all the main bridges. Getting to the other side of the canyon would be a challenge, and not one she wanted to take on while a battle was still going on.
And, I'm curious about what they can do, a part of her whispered. She had never seen such unique fighting styles as the ones displayed by each group member here- although she couldn't see all the girls very easily due to the distance, their unique colour palettes against the grey cliffs made it easy to find them amidst the battle. She let out a little sigh when she saw Blake standing proudly with the others. It was good to see she was alright. And, with four of them together, Pyrrha wanted to see how they handled their situation.
Suddenly, Yang leapt onto the Nevermore, punching ammo down its throat. Distracted, the creature flew straight into the cliffside, Yang jumping off before she could feel the impact herself. Weiss and Yang traded places in the blink of an eye, and Weiss summoned a beautiful, intricate glyph in the air, freezing the tail of the Grimm in place. It effectively trapped the creature on the spot, allowing Weiss to make it back to the other three.
"They're so coordinated," Jaune muttered.
"We weren't so bad ourselves, don't you think?" Nora chirped as she poked Ren back into consciousness.
Pyrrha ignored them, eyes trained upon the four girls. Using Blake's weapon, they managed to make a sort of slingshot, with Ruby's open scythe as the ammunition. It was reckless, but… Pyrrha had to admire the precision of the girls.
After a moment of conversation between the students, and some desperate flapping from the Grimm, they all released Ruby. She flew through the air towards the Nevermore, her speed cracking the bridges underneath her as she raced forward, her scythe's bullets propelling her further and further along until her blade caught the Grimm's neck and they crashed together against the cliff's face.
"Wow," Pyrrha breathed, watching white glyphs appear up the side of the cliff. With a slew of bullets, Ruby fired her way up the wall, dragging the giant body of the Grimm with her as if it was nothing but the lightest feather attached to her scythe. Eventually, she reached the top, and with a graceful flip and one last shot, Ruby ripped the Nevermore's head clean off its body.
The lifeless corpse fell amidst the echoes of the monster's final screams down into the cavern.
"Wow," Jaune murmured in awe. Pyrrha heard Ren (freshly awoken) and Nora hum in agreement, and she couldn't help but share the sentiment- it was clear that whatever their plan had been, the four other girls had executed it perfectly to take down the Grimm.
She's reckless… but she's good, Pyrrha admitted to herself, looking at the pinprick of red in the distance. Although she looked young, Ruby was clearly stronger than she seemed. They'll all be good allies, if I can win them over.
Looking around, she felt her heart swell with pride as she took in the battered forms of her peers. Everyone had fought hard, and together, they had just done something incredible.
And then, her breath caught, and she looked down into her open palm. That was the first time she had ever truly fought alongside that many people. It felt… good. It felt right.
Maybe teams won't be as bad as I thought.