B/N: "I'm back. I've been back... and uhh well. Now I have too much free time! I'm open for betas so hit me up. Note, I am harsh but I do help improve on writing. Eventually you wont need me anymore... Sniff"
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"Of course." Ruby heard Blake mutter ruefully, just after Ren's choice comment. The sentiment was expressed throughout the two teams at the sight of the medium sized Beowolf, all eight of them tracking the beast while it stalked them. She was no exception, wondering why they couldn't have a couple of minutes to savor being back home first.
Sensing further movement in the brush, the red huntress elected to set the bag containing Pyrrha and Nora's belongings on the ground beside her. After a second of thought, she used her foot to nudge it more out of the way, in case someone or something came close enough to step on on the duffel. Dropping the bag lightened her up considerably, allowing Crescent Rose to seemingly leap from her back into her hands. At last she racked the bolt, feeling relief at the sight of an awaiting bullet in the chamber. Her timing was superb; Yang had Ember Cecilia unlatched and ready to attack, Weiss had drawn Myrtenaster with grace customary to her station, and Blake rounded out her team with Gambol Shroud in both her hands. All four girls were armed within seconds of each other.
Tracking JNPR, the professional part of Ruby honed in the intervening years judged their reaction times in comparison. Ren unslung the heavy AT-4 from his back, crouching over to gently set it on the ground before going for Stormflower. Pyrrha and Nora had immediately clipped the submachine guns onto their respective slings before grabbing their weapons, the latter tossing the alien staff aside without a second glance. The redhead had both Miló and Akoúo off her back, holding the shield defensively while pointing the spear at the Beowolf. In contrast the orange haired girl had her typical lack of subtlety, in the way of Magnhild in hammer form clutched in both hands.
Only one of their number didn't go for a melee weapon.
Raising a hand, Jaune incurred a number of odd looks when he boldly stepped forward in the direction of the Grimm, training the P90 on the crouched monster.
"Hang on a minute guys." he called out.
"Uh, Jaune?" Ruby asked carefully, watching him confusedly when he looked over his shoulder for a moment. Weiss and Blake exchanged a look, as Pyrrha and Nora tracked him with obvious apprehension.
"We gotta test these things out sooner or later, now seems like as good a time as any." he answered easily before turning back. The Beowolf had crouched down, glaring at the gathering of humans. Ruby aimed at the Grimm in spite of Jaune's assurance, ready to intervene at once if he needed the help.
"Knock yourself out I guess." Yang invited, frowning despite her easygoing tone. Tellingly, she didn't relax her stance.
The group began to move around, subtly surrounding him. Ren and Nora had spaced themselves out from the rest, leaving an opening for Blake and Weiss to cautiously approach, the latter ending up right by Pyrrha. Yang stomped up to them, bending her knees in preparation of leaping into the fray. Ruby had to relocate herself onto the top of a boulder so she could still see, and subsequently aim. In the process, she discovered more shifting shapes in the bushes. A lot more.
Taking up a stance in the ad hoc formation, Jaune muttered "Moment of truth." to himself as he pointed the Earth gun at the Grimm.
Releasing a breath, he fired. The pistol sized bullets spat from the P90 in controlled bursts, the gun kicking lightly in his grip. It hit the Beowolf in the face, making the beast wince and snarl. More gunfire drove it to hold up a forearm in order to protect its head. He didn't let up, refraining from spraying wildly in favor of making sure his shots found its mark. Ruby saw a few puffs of blow up dirt around the Grimm, though it wasn't something she could fault him for. Finally the P90 clicked empty, and Jaune lowered it to get a detailed look at the results.
The Beowolf shook its head, returning its malevolent gaze towards them with its red eyes blazing far more than what was typical for the creatures. It stood up on its hind legs to roar at the group, louder than before.
"Uh, Jaune? I don't think that worked." Nora stated the obvious, glancing to him guardedly. She wasn't the only one, not by any small margin. On his part the blond took a shallow breath, giving a little shake of his head.
"Yep, I knew better, but nooo, had to be optimistic." he muttered disdainfully. When the Beowolf began to stalk forward again, he unslung the clothes duffel from his back to throw out of the way, methodically clipping the gun to his chest next.
The Grimm charged just as his hands felt for the sword grip, eating up the ground in front of them. A single well aimed shot impacted the beast on the top portion of its bony mask, blowing it away. Mid charge the Beowolf stumbled and collapsed into a tangled heap a half dozen meters from him. Jaune drew his blade and shield while it turned to ash, sparing an annoyed look towards Ruby, which made her shrug sheepishly.
"I could've got it." he protested, waving his shield arm about.
"I'm sorry." Ruby said quickly, wincing at herself.
Glancing towards the brush, Blake hardened her gaze. "Don't worry, there's more where it came from."
No sooner than they snapped their heads where she was looking did the red colored underbrush explode, revealing a dozen Beowolves charging out from the forest. Jaws snapping and snarling with bestial fury, the Grimm pack bore down on the group. Ruby didn't hesitate; she planted Crescent Rose on the boulder underneath her feet and fired, propelling her into the fray.
A swipe cleaved a Grimm in half while she was in mid air, setting her up to attack the one behind it. A strike to take off an arm one second, an undercut to leave a nasty gash across a snarling Beowolf the next, all of her attacks carefully placed in the melee. She wasn't swinging wildly, every blow was controlled more than her usual style. If she were on her own it wouldn't be much of a problem, but with her friends present she had to make sure to not hit anyone by mistake.
Speaking of them, she focused on her uniformed companions for the moment. Her team was fine; Yang whooped as she delivered a series of punches that ended with a Beowolf disintegrating before it hit the ground, Weiss launched a salvo of fire Dust at a pair of Grimm that tried to flank her, and Blake left a flickering shadow clone as she leaped into the air to stab one in the back. They she didn't have to worry about.
Nora was cackling madly, swinging her hammer back and forth to send a Beowolf flying with every blow, until she brought it down on ones head. Ren and Pyrrha both charged one, only for an Ursa to break from the brush. Ruby blinked in to cut the lupine monster in half to free them up, keeping an eye on their movements. The sable haired young man darted around a powerful blow to slash at the limb, making it reflexively recoil. Doing so left the redhead an opening to attack, which she exploited by blocking its other arm to stab it under the jaw, finishing the Ursa off.
Jaune swatted aside a blow from a Beowolf using his shield, slashing Crocea Mors up with a yell of effort. Ruby was fully prepared to abandon her position to help him, but the sight of the Grimm disintegrating put an end to the plan. Dodging a blow, she watched him smirk at the vanished creature in apparent victory. When an Ursa charged into him to send the blond tumbling backwards, she couldn't help wincing. To his credit Jaune recovered quickly, staggering on his feet to level a glare at the snarling bear. Out of concern for him she blinked over, trusting the closest fighter take care of her share of Grimm. Landing on its rolling back let her swipe her scythe around, so the curved blade was pointing at its throat. The Ursa had just realized she was there when Ruby fired, beheading the creature and sending her up into the air.
With practiced ease she landed with a quiet thump a little more than a meter from him, breathing heavily with Crescent Rose held by her side.
"You okay?" she asked, internally impressed that his breathing wasn't close to as rough as hers.
"Not a word." he warned, narrowing his eyes before looking over the swirling brawl. More Beowolves were arriving seemingly out of the woodwork, backed up by smaller numbers of Ursai. Thus far they were handling them well, but that could change the moment a bigger beast showed up.
Come to think of it, Ruby thought, It seems like there's always a lot of Grimm after the Gate gets turned on.
"I wasn't going to say anything, you're just out of practice is all." she shrugged off, dismissing her thoughts. He took a short breath.
"Three years, cut me some slack." he muttered, rolling his head on his shoulders.
Ruby was going to reassure him more, but a body landing by them gave her pause. The green uniformed girl bounced once before skidding, grunting in effort. If the red hair didn't give her away, the bronze toned shield did. Pyrrha groaned as she pushed herself up, using the base of her spear to help get back on her feet. She shook her head at something before finally noticing the two beside her.
"On second thought, cut us all some slack." Jaune amended.
Pyrrha sighed as she readied herself again. Ruby cleared her throat, not so subtly catching her attention. When she glanced her way, both she and Jaune pointed at her torso. Looking down made her gasp, her face scrunching up indignantly. "My gun!"
The M16 was shattered, both major chunks dangling limply from her sling. To Ruby, it looked like whatever hit, most likely the blow that sent her flying, had smacked the receiver, breaking so the stock and the barrel were the majority of what was left. There were probably more bits, scattered around the area to never be retrieved. The red toned girl winced sympathetically; no matter what it was or why it happened, losing a weapon was never a good thing.
"You mind covering me for a moment?" Pyrrha asked dejectedly, frowning at the ruined weapon. Neither Ruby nor Jaune spoke, but their shifting stances were all the answer she needed.
A large Beowolf bore down on them, running on all four limbs. The blond pushed his way past her, timing his movement so he could counter the Grimm when it lunged. Jaune swept his shield out, backhanding a fast swipe as he slashed at its other arm. Its roar was abruptly cut off when he brought Crocea Mors up, cleaving a massive gash over the chest. Another Beowolf charged in just as its packmate died, which he countered with his shield once more. Unlike the last one, the only sounds he made were grunts of effort.
Ruby resisted the impulse to charge, staying close to Pyrrha while she fumbled with her harness. A Beowolf coming from a different direction met its end via a wide swipe from Crescent Rose, setting her up to fire off a shot at another Beowolf that was flaking Jaune. Racking the bolt, she checked on the redhead to discover she was free of the busted firearm, tossing both chunks to the ground. Shield and spear in her grip, she nodded to the girl and ran towards her teammate.
Taking the opportunity, Ruby leaped to attack an Ursa, picking up at the distinctive roar of an angry Berigel. Going off to kill it was her first thought, but one look at her friends convinced her to stay put for the moment. She had to trust the others, still attacking the diminishing yet ferocious pack, to handle it for her.
She had to bite her tongue when she saw Jaune putting in too much strength into his attacks, leaving him exposed repeatedly. His shield kept catching blows, but that was far from a guarantee of protection, especially when another Ursa slammed its entire body on him. While his boot heels dug into the ground, he thrusted his sword up to skewer the chest of the snarling Grimm. No sooner than it perished did another barrel into him, and he bit back a curse. A pointer almost left her lips, but she forced herself to stay silent.
Back in the old days, Pyrrha was with little doubt the best fighter of the year, surpassing all of her contemporaries. But that was then. Ruby saw the skill she still held, blocking a blow and stabbing a Beowolf in a single smooth motion in time to whirl around for the next target. Unlike before, Ruby saw the openings she left hanging. Though she tried to deny it, she saw the weaknesses of her attacks and how she could exploit them. The redhead was relying too much on her weapons, trusting in talent she evidently had few chances to improve on since she left.
Blowing away a Boarbatusk, Ruby checked around her. For the moment the Grimm had dried up, leaving the three alone for a short span. Both of her uniformed friends were taking shallow breaths, nowhere near as bad as her own rasps. If there was one upside to the military training they went through, it was improving their physical prowess. The red Huntress was no slouch, but it wasn't hard to see how much more strength both of them now had. All the same, she felt some more questions were due. "Did you guys get to practice much?"
"We try to get together three or four times a week, but that wasn't enough as it seems." Pyrrha answered her, readying herself at another group of Beowolves breaking from the brush. Nora caught them first, a bellow of laughter telling Ruby how she was feeling. "I admit we've been slipping recently."
"Why?" Ruby asked, frowning at her.
Jaune's breathing subsided, almost back to what he was at the start.
"Works been getting hectic lately, thanks to this jerk called Anubis." he told her, bringing both halves of Crocea Mors up. If the odd name hadn't tipped her off, the scorn he used would have told her what he meant.
"A Gawold." she stated carefully, cringing at herself. The word they used was so difficult to pronounce correctly, and she didn't have time to get it right.
Both of them nodded, a sideways look at their expressions showing a hardness she recognized. Jaune's face especially was familiar; she imagined her own had a lot in common. "Yeah, big time System Lord. Even by their standards though, he's-"
As much as she was interested in his explanation, the thumps that caused the ground to shake took priority. He shut up, turning with the girls towards the forest. The red huntress didn't wait on them this time. The second the three meter tall simian Grimm burst through the cover of the forest, Ruby was upon it.
The malevolent eyes of the Berigel had just processed the sight of the scythe wielding Huntress appearing before it in a flutter of rose petals when she struck, catching the sharp edge of her weapon on its massive biceps. It roared and tried to swat her, but her speed was too great. Swinging around while digging an enormous cut into its arm, she slammed her feet onto the back of its neck, firing off a shot to free her weapon and to remove its arm. Its roar was ear splitting, tinged by something resembling pain. Ruby had neither malice nor mercy; a powerful slice took the monster's head off, and she leaped off to clear its death throes. But while she was occupied, another pair of Ursai had closed in on her friends.
Gritting her teeth, Ruby blinked over to help. No small amount of frustration was building within her at the seemingly never ending tide of Grimm, continually pouring into the area to attack them. What she needed was a couple of days to think everything all over, how it was going to change her life.
Instead she swept herself around in a vertical arc, carving one of the attacking Ursai in half. A tiny part of her approved of Pyrrha yanking herself around to save Jaune instead of hesitating or thanking her, the same part which helped the younger students out whenever she could. Shaking off the trail of thought, Ruby landed and charged to the blond. Her attack run was hastily aborted when the Grimm slumped down to disintegrate, adjusting her footing back to something resembling normal while she came up to them.
Jaune took a breath, rolling his shoulders. "Looks like the Grimm missed us too."
"Points for enthusiasm anyway." Pyrrha agreed, sweeping her head back to the main brawl. The red toned girl was going to add a comment of her own, something along the lines of the Grimm giving them a cake instead, but movement caught her attention. Specifically, a Boarbatusk charging straight at the trio.
Ordinarily that would be cause for concern, but Ruby noted a mane of blonde hair streaming off from the laughing girl riding the Grimm, and relaxed a minute degree. When it was a dozen meters away Yang had enough of the free ride, and crushed its head between her fists. She leaped off the dissolving Boarbatusk to land with a concussive thump in front of the three, standing up and beaming.
"Well, this is a fun welcome home party." Yang chuckled, smirking. "Was afraid it'd be a boar."
Jaune's shield hand slapped his face. Pyrrha's spear came up to lightly tap her forehead. Ruby groaned and let her head fall back, squeezing her eyes shut. The blonde's response was an evil giggle.
"How many more are there?" Ruby groaned, opening up at the sky and letting the tension leave her body.
"I got lots, just you wait" Yang promised playfully, planting her fists on her hips and snickering more.
"Doesn't look like there's many Grimm left." the redhead reported in her stead, warily tracking the others.
Turning her head to the source of action, Ruby saw Ren whirling around in a flurry of blades, killing one Beowolf after another. Blake was being her usual self, leaping from one target to another and leaving behind a short lived cloud of ash. Weiss wasn't doing so well, her attacks were starting to slow from all her exertions. Fortunately Nora was right beside her, still laughing her head off at every foe she pulped. The red huntress wondered how long it had been since she cut loose like this. Watching the four fight, Ruby mentally compared Ren and Nora to before, searching for any refinements in their techniques. Something seemed off with them, but she couldn't put her finger on what it could be.
Her analyzing was put on hold when Jaune said "Ammo count?"
"Still got thirty shells, relax." Yang flippantly waved off. The red toned girl mentally shrugged and checked Crescent Rose, finding her magazine to be half empty. Deciding it was enough, she looked to the pair, who were starting to move back to the main fight. Neither tried to reload; the P90 was effectively useless, and the M16 was busted beyond repair. That left-
"Hang on." Ruby said aloud, making Pyrrha and Jaune stop to turn around. Yang too looked at her questionably, raising a brow at her blinking sister. "Pyrrha, you haven't shot at all today."
The redhead stiffened, before dropping her head and sighing. "I'm out of ammo for Miló."
"No big deal." Yang shrugged off with a little wave of her arm. "So you forgot to pick up more, its not a problem." her supportive smile vanished when she shook her head.
"No, I've been out for two and a half years. No Dust out there." Pyrrha explained, gesturing with her head in a random direction. Out of curiosity Ruby glanced around, locating the cave containing the discovery of the…
Of all history, she thought with a cold shiver.
"Uh…" Yang trailing off snapped her back to the present, if a short chatter of gunfire from Gambol Shroud didn't do it first, "Did you use them on something good anyway?"
Pyrrha looked away, a red flush to her cheeks. Jaune cleared his throat to continue in her place. "Major Carter wanted to know more about Dust, how it worked and whatnot. So, we donated all our remaining ammo. It was possible she could've found a way to synthesize it."
"Synthesize? Like, man made?" Ruby couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice. Trailing the idea was the oddball thought that Weiss's father would have a heart attack at the thought of artificial Dust threatening his empire.
"I'm gonna guess she didn't figure it out." Yang ventured, huffing when Jaune looked away instead of giving her an answer. The blonde smiled. "Look who got the last laugh though." she pointed to his sword, which to Ruby's knowledge had never jammed, misfired, or needed reloading.
The red toned girl cleared her throat to gain everyone's attention.
"Let's finish this pack off." she said authoritatively, vanishing into a flutter of rose pedals once the words left her lips.
Ruby took a relieved breath once she reappeared in a flash, cutting a third of an Ursa away in the process. Despite their dawdling, her friends were still handling the Grimm pack, which was finally starting to taper off. Weiss was breathing the heaviest out of the makeshift team, her lack of sleep catching up to her at the worst time. She would have placed far more concern on her if Nora wasn't right by her side, catching any Grimm she missed. Her maniacal cheer was almost infectious, the zeal she displayed while swinging Magnhild about less so.
Yang, Pyrrha, and Jaune caught up with her as the last Beowolf met its end by a scissor slice of Blake. Once it dissipated she paused to catch her breath. Ruby too stopped to take a breather, automatically reloading Crescent Rose as she swept her silver gaze over the two teams. Apart from being largely out of breath, none of the eight looked any worse off than when they began.
"So, you guys enjoyed your chat?" Blake icily questioned, settling her amber eyes on the mismatched team. Ruby's sister and friends winced, though Ren picked himself back up to sweep his own gaze around. His chest was heaving more than the others, but far less than the red huntress expected. From what she remembered, he would have been swaying on his feet by now after that many Grimm.
Nora smirked as she settled Magnhild's head on the ground. "Dunno about the rest of you, but I was having a great time."
"Well its over now." Weiss stated, her breathing slowing as she idly rubbed her aching bicep. "We should get going soon, before more show up."
Ruby nodded. "Let's grab the stuff first, then we'll-"
A powerful rumble rolled through the ground, and she had to throw her arms out to balance herself. Eyes widening, Ruby snapped her head to find everyone else in the same shape. The shaking ground wasn't stopping.
"I don't remember there being quakes here." Pyrrha said loudly, her own eyes wide open.
"There's not." Blake corrected darkly, a moment before her ears picked up. Trusting in her senses, Ruby turned her head to the same direction as her, to discover the unusual sight of trees collapsing on their own accord some distance away. Whatever was doing it was getting closer.
"Tell me that's not what I think it is." Yang bemoaned, cringing at the evidently massive creature coming for them. The red toned girl thought she saw Jaune gulping out of the corner of her vision, but she didn't have time to check.
The edge of the forest crumpled before the monster, several old trees dating from before the Great War scattered around like children's toys. It's enormous size was completely hidden until it was close to the clearing, where the top of its black tinted form finally showed itself. When it burst from the trees, three arms the size of houses swung about to remove any obstacles between them. Four stories tall, colored black, and with two legs and three arms, the mass of rocks and trees stomped out of its home ground, leveling a single protrusion acting as the Grimm's head at them. While the rest of the body was natural, there was a comically tiny white mass on the center of the head.
"That's what I think it is." Yang dropped her head, groaning. Ren pointed a single finger at the Grimm.
"My bestiary is rusty, but I'm mostly certain that's a Geist." he said, glancing to the girls. Several resigned nods met him.
A horridly loud screech echoed out from the opposite direction as them; Ruby really didn't want to take her eyes off the Geist, but the rest of her friends looking anyway made her sigh and check anyway. A small part of her felt relieved at the much more common sight of a Nevermore far in the sky, one with easily a forty meter wingspan. She didn't have to guess if it spotted them, since it was swooping in from wherever it was patrolling earlier.
"Okay, okay, okay." Jaune took a deep breath, shrugging his shoulders. The few odd looks he received were ignored. "I just wanna say for the record, this." he paused to think over his wording. "This is dumb. Seriously, ten minutes of not being attacked is too much to ask for."
"Uh, I do wanna point out this isn't normal for these parts. From what I know anyway." Weiss said loudly, her hair swinging while she tried keeping tabs on both massive Grimm.
"Would you take it the wrong way if I said the Gate is drawing them in?" Blake opined, deciding to focus her efforts on the Geist.
"I don't think that's really important right now, but yeah, do agree on that." Ren added, focusing on the Nevermore instead.
"Okay, game plan." Jaune spoke, glancing to Ruby. "We'll take the Nevermore, you guys get the Geist. That work?"
"Well…" Ruby quickly thought it over, but she could see his logic. JNPR did know how to deal with the bird, but not the Geist. RWBY on the other hand knew what they had to do with this type, though she had never personally faced one down before. Letting out a breath, she nodded.
"Dibs on the missile!" Nora shouted excitedly, breaking out in a sprint. The movement triggered the Geist, which charged at them. The ground shook with every footfall. Its charging spurned the Nevermore to attack, and it brought its wings closer to dive bomb them.
The last thing Ruby saw of that moment was Ren grabbing her arm to yank her back on track, eliciting a tiny chuckle from the red toned girl. But as she blinked closer to the enormous Grimm, she was certain she saw Yang taking off in the same direction Nora was. Her sister wasn't going to grab the AT-4, was she? She couldn't tell at the moment, since Ruby reappeared right in front of the Geist and fired off a shot at its head. It bounced off, chipping away a chunk of the boulder and grabbing its attention.
This was going to be the trickiest part of fighting a Geist; wearing it down until it exposed itself. In theory, the trick to killing these Grimm was a simple blend of attack and mobility, according to Professor Port anyway. In practice, dodging a mass of trees and rocks larger than her old home was difficult. When a black blur rushed out to shave away some of its mass, Ruby silently thanked Blake for joining in, giving it an extra target to divide its attention. Weiss was hanging back for the moment; even if she had a full wind, she wasn't exactly geared to take down a monster like this. That left Yang.
Blinking out of the way, the red toned girl felt the mass of rocks shake the ground beneath her feet. She couldn't stay still, not with two other arms and a pair of massive feet to contend with too. Grimacing, she raced in a circle firing off round after round at a single leg. The Geist realized what she was doing, and tried to stomp closer. It left an opening for Blake to rush in, firing Gambol Shroud at the same spot Ruby was aiming at. One of its arms crashed down, crushing her shimmering form underneath. She could almost see the Grimm's surprise when Blake whirled up on top of the arm to dash, leaving behind a clone every few meters as she peppered its face with gunfire.
Ruby was in no position to do anything more than snatch a quick peek in JNPR's direction, but peek she did. The Nevermore was still airborne, screeching loudly at the ground based humans attacking it. But when she heard P90 gunfire from them, she was forced to abandon her target to blink away. Reappearing by a crouched Weiss, she got out "Tag in." before vanishing once more, wincing at the shocked expression on her face. Mentally she promised she would only be a few seconds.
Darting over as fast as she could move, Ruby homed in on the closest source of fire, not aware of who she was on until she was right next to them. Landing in a thump caused Ren to flip the gun her way, barely reigning in his reflexes in time to avoid shooting her.
"What're you doing?" he demanded tightly.
"Sorry." she quickly apologized, sparing a look skyward. Without thinking she grabbed the sable haired young man and blinked; her back slammed into a tree, along with his. The discomfort was minor compared to the massive Nevermore tearing a pile of dirt out of the spot they were a second ago. "So, you okay?" her gaze landed on the P90 instead of his face.
Ren groaned, idly reloading the tiny gun. "I know, I was standing right there. I'm just distracting it."
"Oh." she said, blinking. A redness worked its way into her cheeks, causing him to sigh.
"Its okay. How's it going over there?" he asked, strained.
A tremendous crash echoed, making both spare a look. The source of the boom was a crumbling mass of rocks, coming from the now flailing Geist sans one arm. As she watched, a blast of ice froze a fist shaped rock and made it swerve into the ground, well short of its target.
"Good. I think. You guys?" she asked back.
"Trying to get Nora on it. Not having a lot of luck so far." he answered, in time for the tree branches above them to crackle ominously. Both relaxed when a blond young man landed on his feet with a pained grunt in front of them, his sword and shield hitting the ground to steady himself.
"I'll leave you to it then. Good luck." Ruby told him quickly, vanishing in a flutter.
Staying to assist was what she wanted to do, but the sight of streaming blonde hair shook up her priorities. Yang was suspiciously absent for most of the fight, and Ruby wanted to know why. She regrouped with her by a tree, right in front of the small clearing where Weiss and Blake were still battling the Geist. A couple seconds after they regrouped, the white haired girl was backhanded by the force of the Grimm's stomp, flying away to land a couple of meters from them. Before she tore into her sister, Ruby grabbed Weiss's groaning body to drag her under the shade.
"Perfect timing." Yang beamed, crouching to one knee. When Ruby glanced at her, the retort died on her lips.
"Why do you have that?" she demanded incredulously, staring at the AT-4 Yang unslung from her back. She showed some effort handling the tube weapon, maneuvering it so it was resting on her shoulder with the body comfortably cocooned by her hand. Her large smirk told her exactly what she was thinking. Weiss groaned and sat up, shaking her head before her eyes fell on the blonde.
"You left us on our own, for that." she accused dryly, grimacing through whatever pain she was in.
"Would've been here sooner, but some Beowolves got in the way. Anyway, have no fear, Yang is here!" she proclaimed, aiming the business end at the massive Geist.
Weiss stared at her stilled form, and Ruby cleared her throat. "Well?"
"I…" Yang was still smiling, faker than the reunion hours earlier. "Don't… know… how to use this." she beamed through a rictus of a smile.
Weiss sucked in a breath, then slowly exhaled. From the ongoing battle Blake bellowed "On my own here!" while narrowly dodging an impact.
"Ten seconds." Ruby said, gesturing behind her. She vanished into rose pedals, leaving a faint outline of where she was.
Shrugging, Yang held out a hand to Weiss to help her up. The white toned girl grabbed her right; she was one of precisely three people the blonde didn't mind touching the misshapen hand, provided she didn't make an issue out of it. Once she had successfully pulled her back onto her unsteady feet, a fresh pedal shower appeared, and Ruby fell into a crouch. Jaune wasn't so lucky, falling on his hands and knees while he fought the vertigo.
"How…" he got out, dizzily trying to stand up.
"Yeah, sorry." Ruby said, quickly grabbing his arm to help him up. She saw his remaining orange magazines, a lot fewer than a few minutes ago.
Another shout of "Help me!" made Weiss snort and turn away, rejoining the fray to do what she could to help. Neither the sisters nor their friend tried to stop her.
"So, you mind helping an old friend out?" Yang asked hopefully, giving him her best smile. He sighed, then did a double take at her new prize. It faded into puzzlement when he groaned and slapped his face, taking deep breaths.
"There's instructions on the side." his voice was muffled from the hand on his face. Frowning, Yang hefted the weapon off her shoulder to look, blinking in surprise.
"Oh, whaddya know." she said softly, her lilac eyes scanning the writing on the side.
Jaune sighed again, finally lowering his hand. Despite his apparent frustration, Ruby saw him twitch when he looked at the ongoing fight, tightening his grip on the shield and sword. "You guys good over here?"
"Yeah, what about you?" the red toned girl asked him quickly, sparing a look back.
"Fine." he looked away, indecision flashing over him. "You mind giving me a ride back?"
"Oh, sure." Ruby grabbed him once more and blinked, a fast moving stream of pedals announcing where she and Jaune was as they zoomed between the two ongoing battles.
Yang was still reading when Ruby returned thirty seconds, huffing in breath with her hands on her thighs. Sparing a look at her, the blonde shook her head. "This things builder must think the user is an idiot."
The red huntress nodded shakily, turning her head back to the other battle when she heard the P90s chattering. The faint shout of "Get back here!" reached her ears, the sight of a faraway Nora in the middle of the small field shaking her fist at the Nevermore making her sputter out a coughing laugh.
"So, you ready?" Yang asked, handling the AT-4 back onto her shoulder.
When Ruby shook her head, she frowned. Rather than speaking, she held up one hand to show her a whitish brick held in her grip.
"Let, me, first." she panted. Taking a deep breath, the girl drew on her reserves of strength. Ruby forced her aching muscles and burning lungs to keep quiet, telling herself that Weiss and Blake were worse off. Letting it out, she blinked away.
Her target was the limb she attacked earlier, where she tried to slow the Geist down. Zooming right by a dodging Weiss, she latched ahold of the chipped leg as tight as she could. The Grimm was definitely angry, bringing the leg up to slam into the ground. Feeling her bones rattle, she grimaced but kept to her task. Said task was sticking the brick Jaune quickly gave her into a crevice and hitting the tiny button on the small side pad. That done, she leaped off to blink away.
Just after touching the ground, the brick he called 'see-four' exploded. The shockwave was powerful, knocking her off her feet even from as far away as she was. Blake and Weiss, being far closer, were sent flying away. The Geist staggered from the explosion utterly obliterating its leg, comically twirling as it tried to regain its balance. Ultimately it failed, and the entire possessed construct tilted to fall. The resounding boom as its entire body hit the ground was almost as great as the bomb.
Seeing her cue, Yang sprinted towards the flailing Geist. Lying on the ground, Ruby felt like watching for the moment. Her sister hadn't helped during the fight, so letting her finish it off seemed fair. Stopping a short distance away, Yang aimed the missile at her cooperative foe, which lifted both its head and a mostly undamaged arm to squash her. Even facing away, Ruby could see her smirk on her face when she pressed a button.
The back of the AT-4 exploded in a large plume, coinciding with the speedy missile erupting from the front. Almost too fast to track, the projectile streaked out to impact the Geist, blooming into a massive explosion which engulfed the entire head. Yang was buffeted backwards by the boom, but somehow managing to stay on her feet. The Grimm's raised arm suddenly crumbled, the black corruption coating the rocks fading away.
Ruby gingerly felt for Crescent Rose, aiming at the cloud of dusty debris that was the central node of the Geist a moment ago. As it turned out, she didn't have to finish it off; Yang slung the weapon around to her back to prepare instead of admiring her destructive handiwork. In the nick of time she leaped, catching a fleeting dark shape and pinning it to the ground. Before the true form of the Geist could escape, she drew back to punch the Grimm, Ember Cecilia booming.
Groaning, the red toned girl pushed herself up so she was sitting. Blake was trying to get back onto her feet, but Weiss was having trouble doing anything but flop. She sighed, right before another concussive boom shook the air. Twisting around, her eyes widened at the Nevermore plummeting to the ground, trailing smoke while screeching. It slammed headfirst into the dirt, digging a massive new trench into the soil as it skidded to a stop in her direction. It's momentum came to an abrupt halt when Nora jumped up from its back, bringing her hammer down on top of its head. The remainder of the Nevermore briefly rose up so its tail was skyward.
Finally it crashed down, rumbling the ground with the settling impact. As it dissolved into ash, Nora strolled through to her direction, coughing from its dusty remains. Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren were striding to regroup as well, unlike her taking a route away from the ash. On the other side Yang picked up Weiss to flop her over her shoulder, with her head right by the missile. Blake was up too, though clearly looking worse for wear while she slowly walked back.
Getting back onto her feet proved much harder than Ruby anticipated, her aching muscles protesting against any more exertions. The red toned girl decided she earned a plateful of cookies for all this, probably muffins too. Muffins sounded very appealing all of a sudden.
Of course, they had to get back to Beacon first. With all that entailed.
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A/N: New chapter will be the next month at this rate.
Edited