For a den of monsters, the Emerald Forest was still uncharacteristically beautiful. Least that's what Gales thought as he kept in step with the others. 'Then again it's usually the best looking places that have monsters wandering around…' The Hunter just made a noise as he looked around, adjusting the unconscious pilot over his shoulder while he heard the sound of a bowgun being fired. No not a bowgun, it was whatever Yang called her bracelets; the sound they released certainly sounded close to that of a Bowgun though, one firing Pellets. 'I wonder how those work…' Gales made a noise as he turned his gaze to the others, watching their weapons shift from one form to the next. He sort of got how most of the others work. Ruby's expanded and opened up, same with Nora's rocket launcher. Weiss's rapier just had a swivel to open up and reveal the revolver chamber. Blake's just acted as a sheath for a thinner blade. Ren's didn't really shift at all. 'But how Jaune's shield, Pyrrha's spear and Yang's bracelets work is beyond me.' The teen thought as he frowned. "I may not be a mechanic but I can at least make sense of some of the stuff I'm looking at. I can make a good guess where the gears are and how they move, but the rest of they're gear?" Muttering to himself Gales found Blake turn to him as she put her weapon on her back.
"You ok?"
"Yeah, just confused about something." The teen admitted as he pressed on, following after the group as he made a noise. "I'm trying to figure out how some of the other weapons work." Blake looked ahead, a bit of curiosity on her face as she watched the others weapons for a moment.
"You mean how they shift forms."
"Yeah, most of them make sense, but then there are those like Yang's bracelets and I'm totally lost." Gales admitted as he looked at Blake. "I mean, how do those things even work; the gears, the firing mechanism. I just don't get it."
"You could ask her." Blake stated the obvious solution and Gales just shrugged for a moment. "There's no shame in that."
"I know… it's just, I don't want to be too nosy ya know. It's her custom weapon, not mine." Blake made a noise as she looked at Yang for a moment. "Speaking of being nosy, I have to know something Blake."
"What is it?" Leaning down, Gales spoke in her ear as she twitched.
"Are you a Faunus?" For his troubles Blake sent him a look, though it quickly shifted when she just sighed quietly and nodded her head.
"I shouldn't be surprised, you know." The young huntress muttered in a low voice. "For some reason, we've always been able to identify each other." She admitted as she looked ahead for a moment and slowed down. As soon as they were out of earshot from the others she looked back to Gales. "So… how were you able to tell?"
"I have a friend who's a Faunus; he owns that bookstore I told you about." Gales began. "He had a distinct scent of puma on him, and you smell like a cat… just I don't see cat hair on your clothes."
"So that's it huh." Blake stated as she glanced ahead, making certain that she and Gales were still out of earshot from the others. "Please don't tell the others, I don't want them to know… especially Weiss."
"Because of her family right?" Gales asked. "Before school started Pyrrha told me about the Schnee and the White Fangs." Blake's bow twitched unconsciously. "She told me about their… history and how it affects other Faunus. I wouldn't be too surprised if Weiss just has issues with Faunus because of it."
"Yeah… I wouldn't be surprised either." Blake muttered. "I mean, I've seen the way she looks at you."
"Looks at me?" Gales tilted his head in confusion. "How does she look at me?"
'She alternates between attraction and innate hatred.' Blake thought as she stared at the teen's clothed chest for a moment. "Not that it's hard to understand why." Gales just tilted his head further as Blake looked up at him. She fell silent as she stared at his eye for a moment. "Exactly, what kind of Faunus are you though?" She asked as Gales gave her a cheeky smile. "I've never seen one of our own with such beastal eyes before."
"I'm actually not a Faunus." Gales stated as he adjusted a hand to tap a spot under his eye. "I'm human, and wyvernian." From the look on her face Blake didn't seem to believe him.
"Right." She muttered aloud. 'This guy didn't even know what a cookie was before Ruby gave him one.' She reminded herself. 'Is it that he doesn't even know he's a Faunus?' Blake thought on that for a moment before making a noise. "… are you sure you aren't a Faunus?"
"Pretty sure; I didn't even know what a Faunus was until I got here." Blake just made a noise. Seemed she was right, still…
"You *never* saw a Faunus where you're from?" She asked skeptically.
"Never, the only tribes I knew about were "Wyvernians, Troverians, Sea People?."
"Wyvernians, Troverians, Sea People?" Blake made to ask something else only to stop.
"Hey Blake, stop trying to steal my sister's boyfriend and get up here." Yang shouted as she looked back at the two.
"He's not my boyfriend!" Teasing aside Blake did as asked and Gales followed her, stepping up to the group as they formed a protective circle around him. Gales found it unnecessary, but then again, he was the only one carrying a body right now. He couldn't really grab his weapon and fight off any incoming Grimm.
'If I didn't have support this would remind me of the first time I had to steal a Wyvern Egg.'
"So what are…Wyvernians, Troverians, Sea People." Black asked, a cat-like curiosity on her face as the others looked at her.
"A what, what and what?" Nora asked cutely.
"They're tribes you can find back home in the Old World." Gales admitted. "You know like humans and Faunus here." He explained as Pyrrha perked up, whatever she was about to say though was drowned out by Nora.
"They're other races out there?"
"Yeah. They're - is that a kelbi?" Growing distracted Gales looked ahead as the others turned in the same direction as him.
"Kelbi?" Stepping out the woods a small deer like creature made itself known as it looked around. After a moment it lowered it's head and started to eat at the grass as the others looked on.
"Is that a deer?"
"It's so cute!" Ruby and Nora squealed as they looked at the creature, watching it eat away at the grass beneath it. A moment later though the creature was joined by several others as the two squealed again. "It's got a family~"
"Well they are kinda cute." Weiss muttered as she crossed her arms as one of the kelbi turned to look at the group before returning to eat. "But it doesn't look like any deer I've ever seen."
"They're pretty common in the Old World." Gales admitted as he lowered the pilot near a tree and stepped forward. Pulling out a few pieces of grass he dropped to his knees as he caught a kelbi's attention. "I'm not to surprise to see them here."
"I am." Pyrrha muttered. "We don't have any records of "Kelbi" on Sanus."
"That's kinda surprising." Gales muttered as he held out the grass shards as one of the Kelbi crept forward. When it was within arms reach it started eating at the grass in his hand as Gales patted it's head. "Kelbi are just about everywhere; the grasslands, the hills, forests, exen some snowy mountains if you look hard enough." He admitted before smiling. "Hey buddy~" He whispered as the Kelbi's tail started to wag. "Guys come here." Everyone did as requested, two with a bit more enthusiasm than the rest as they approached the hunter.
One by one they patted the creature and Gales watched as they each grew a smile on their faces. "It's coat's so soft~" Nora stated as she rubbed the Kelbi.
"Look at it's stubby widdle horns." Weiss apparently was a sucker for cute critters. She aw'ed and cooed at the creature as it started to lick her fingers. "Who's adorable, you are, yes you are!"
"It's a young male." Gales explained as he pulled back and got to his feet.
"You can tell?" Blake asked as she continued rubbing the creature.
"Yeah it's pretty easy, male Kelbi are green, females are blue." Gales admitted as he stared off into space for a moment. "Back home we used to grind their horns up into a powder with some herbs and mushrooms. Really good for healing ointments." The teen said before looking at the rest of the pack. "Also they're pelts aren't that bad either."
Weiss, Ruby and Nora shot him a look. "Don't you dare."
"I'm not gonna!" Gales stated as he crossed his arms. "I haven't worn anything made from Kelbi pelt since I was little." The Kelbi's ears perked as Ren looked elsewhere for a moment as his handguns popped out his sleeves.
"Ren what's up?" Jaune asked as the Kelbi started to leave, disappearing into another part of the woods as Ruby whined for a moment.
"Come back~" Gales just looked in the direction Ren was staring as he reached for his weapon.
"Eyes up Ruby." The teen muttered. "We got company."
Ruby whined for just a moment longer till she turned her head, getting to her feet as something stepped out the woods. A Grimm of a good 12'ft tall, with a long strip of armored bone going down where its spine would be. Its traits were feline in nature, but its body was a bit disproportioned due to a good layer of black "muscle."
"It's a Rogue Liger." Gales muttered as he thought back to what Glynda told him.
"Oh boy that's… pretty big." Jaune muttered as he drew his sword and readied his shield. "But we got this right guys? I mean it's just one."
"Rogue Ligers aren't pack based Grimm. They like being alone, but if they have to, they'll work together under a Tyrant Liger." Gales stated.
"How do you know that?" Weiss asked as she looked at the teen for a moment.
"I asked Glynda."
"Of course you did." The Rogue Liger released a roar, and spread itself out. "Here it comes!" It moved, and despite its bulk it was exceptionally fast. It went for Ruby first, swiping at her with its claws only for the caped huntress to block with her scythe, swinging it arc after arc as it came after her.
"Ruby!" Yag shot forward, Ember Celica propelling her at the beast as she threw a punch. It dodged though, jumping into the air as it seemed to twist before bringing its claw down in a bid to squish the young huntress. When it missed it just went back to swinging as the two sisters went on the defensive. Yang swung at the Grimm, hitting its claws as she knocked them back one after the next. An opening made Ruby take her shot as she hit the Liger. If it did any damage though was another question, the rounds seeming to disappear after hitting its black skin. It spun, whipping its tail around as Yang blocked with a raised guard only to go sliding back for a moment. She reloaded and propelled herself forward, slipping under a raised claw as she made for its face. An uppercut was followed by a strong hook, and that was followed by another mirroring it, only backing off when it tried biting her hand off.
Ruby charged, using Crescent Rose's recoil to launch her into the air as she came down on the Grimms's head . Her scythe dug into its skin, before it started to shake, knocking the young Huntress off before lunging at the downed girl. Pyrrha blocked as she covered Ruby; her shield raised in defense as she started taking the blunt of its swings. 'It's not just fast. It's strong.' One swing went too close to her head as she ducked, and a weight suddenly landed on her back.
"SMASH!" Nora leapt over her teammate as she slammed Magnhild, causing the Grimm to stagger and fall back for a moment. "No you don't!" Giving chase Nora swung her hammer as she started smacking it against the Grimms face, stopping only when it bit down on her hammer and lifted her up. "Uh oh." With a strong jerk it tossed the young huntress airborne as she squealed in delight before jumping after her. It twisted, catching her in one of its claws before dropping, smashing her into the grass as she choked for a moment. With its other claw it aimed down only for Pyrrha to block again. When she pushed the limb back she turned, dropping the edge of her shield on the one pinning Nora as she forced a roar to leave the Liger and get it to jump back.
"Hey!" The Grimm turned, finding Gales behind it as he swung his weapon. It just turned doing a full spin as it's tail smashed into the teen and sent him flying. When he hit the ground he just rolled to his feet as the Grimm jumped on him. He blocked with the blunt of his weapon dug his feet into the ground to keep his balance before inhaling. He rocked back for a moment, then forward as he knocked the creature off balance and stabbed his blade into the ground in one swift movement. A quick release of the handle and he punched the Grimm in the jaw. Another punch was followed by a roar, and the third was met with a snapping of fangs. He didn't stop throwing punches until after the 13th and with a quick dodge he pulled his sword out the ground before swinging at the Liger's face. For his trouble all he got was a roar in his face as it recovered, swinging at the teen before stepping back when it made an opening. "Hm?"
Ren fired round after round into the Grimm as Blake charged it "Jaune shield up!"
"Huh? Uh right!" The blonde teen did as told and raised his shield, just in time as Blake jumped on it and went airborne. She landed on the grimm's back swinging Gambol Shroud as it started trying to shake her off. It succeeded when it rolled over, aiming to squish the huntress under it's weight. It didn't really focus on her much longer afterwards though, instead charging Jaune as the teen raised his shield to protect himself.
"Don't take it, dodge!" Gales' shout came just a few seconds too late as Jaune was trampled under the Grimms' weight. It made for Ren right after, and he just started dodging its claws and made a few swings at it's exposed side. When it turned Ren just adjusted his hold on one of his handguns and took the following blow with his weapon. A small pulse-like wave caught Gales' attention as the Grimm started swinging repeatedly at some unseen force. "The hell?"
"That must be aura… interesting."
With a turn Ren made one of Stormflower's guns vanish into his sleeve before slamming a palm into the Grimm's chest and sent a ripple through it. The Liger was thrown back but rolled to regain its footing as it growled and Ren stepped back and once again pointed both his weapons at it.
"It jumped back to avoid most of the force." The teen muttered as it lunged at him again.
"It can do that?" Yang looked to the Grimm as Gales just narrowed his eye for a moment.
"We know these movements."
Weiss created a glyph, firing bolts of dust as the Grimm chose to leave Ren alone and charge after her. When it revealed that the attacks weren't doing much Weiss simply dismissed the glyph before her and lunged forward. With another glyph she changed direction as it's claw hit air. She created a wound on it's side, then another as it turned to try hitting her. She never made to block head on with Myrtenaster, likely owing do to the rapiers thin frame and with each strike she instead deflected the blows left and right before retaliating. She set up a field of Glyphs and rushed forward, jumping from one to the next as she started attacking from multiple angles and eventually backed off. For her efforts she received a roar as it lunged at her, only for it to stop when the others started laying suppressive fire on the Grimm. It just roared at them as it did it's best to cover its body before jumping into the air. When it landed t hit the ground at an angle, spilling as its tail tried hitting each of the young Hunters and Huntresses and forcing them to scatter.
The Liger started stepping back as they all recovered and got ready for the next round. Only for the Grimm to take several more steps back, evaluated its chances and retreated into the Emerald Forest. "What the? Hey get back here!" Nora screamed as she made to go after the Grimm, stopping only when Ren put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.
"Yeah you better run!" Yang shouted as the others watched it disappear from view. "Show your face again and you won't get off so lucky next time!" Gales just put Altered Song on his back as he made a noise.
"This isn't good." He muttered as he turned to the others. "We gotta find those missing people and fast." The others turned to him as they looked in confusion.
"What's wrong?"
"That Liger; it was testing us." Ren spoke up as he retrieved the unconscious pilot for Gales and hoisted him over his shoulder.
"What do you mean?"
"It wasn't trying to beat us." Blake turned to Jaune as she crossed her arms. "It must of been a scout of some kind, checking the area ahead for the rest of it's pack."
"Um but Gales said they work alone." Jaune muttered as Ruby seemed to think for a moment.
"He said usually." She muttered after a while.
"They'll abandon their solo work when they're united by a Tyrant Liger." Gales muttered. "It's they're version of an Alpha, and from what Glynda told me they're experts at coordinating their pack." The teen scratched his head as he made a noise. "We'll be in trouble if that thing comes for us."
"… you say that." Weiss mutters as she looks at the beast eyed teen. "But that gleam in your eye concerns me more than any Grimm." True to her words Gales seemed to have an excited look across his face as he looked at the others. The prospect of fighting a powerful Grimm seemed to have flipped a switch of sorts in him as Weiss shuddered for a moment. 'Please… please don't tell me he's one of those guys.' "Ruby what do you…?" Ruby looks ready to pump her fists in the air as she had a similar look in her eyes. 'Come on…' Yang just patted Weiss's shoulder as she gave a slight grin. "Is your sister a…"
"Yep." Yang admitted before looking at her younger sister and then Gales, before looking back to Ruby. "Ruby's *always* been a bit passionate about fighting Grimm, even before uncle Qrow got his hands on her." The young huntress stated as she smiled. "I think it's heredity."
"Of course it is." Weiss stated as she looked at the two unnatural eyed teens. "Let's just get this over with before these two start actively looking for the Tyrant Liger and it's pack."
"Please." Blake muttered as she looked at the two as they snapped out of their apparent daze.
"Right. Well, let's get a move on." Weiss took the lead as the others started following after her.