Heart of the Storm

Chapter 3: Partners, Good or Bad?

There was a certain serenity about flying down into a lush forest, filled with evil soulless monsters or not. Wind blowing and coursing around his body, Mercer closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Clean natural air rushed into his body and flowed through his system. The young man always had a preference to nature over heavily civilization. Probably due to him staying out of the Kingdoms themselves nearly all his life. If anything he was more use to Mistral than Vale, though the villages across Remnant all possessed a charm to them that the Kingdoms couldn't hold a candle to, but there was something about Anima that seemed lighter compared to Sanus's air. Vivid green eyes opened again, scanning over the passing and slowly enclosing Emerald Forest getting closer. Gravity was doing its job and pulled him back down towards the ground. Black hair fluttered about, and Mercer grinned as he prepared for his descent to the woods below. His right hand reached down to the hand-cannon of his father's, drawing the great revolver from it's holster. As it was, the gun wouldn't have a use in preventing its master from becoming a red paste against some random tree.

But there in-lies the glories of the Folding-Frame technology.

Drifting his thumb over a small, nearly invisible switch underneath the hammer of Broken Word, the Knight scion flicked it down. With that action the weapon began its change; the mechanics of the gun began to shift up at to a slightly bent vertical angle, the trigger retreated into the handle while the guard remained, the barrel that sat on the lower end broke apart and condensed into the upper half. As that happened the cylinder closed and narrowed itself, keeping the loaded bullets firmly locked in place. With all that done, a sharp, dark grey blade jutted down, bending itself at a curve while the condense mechanisms served as a spine and ended at the shoulder. Now complete, Broken Word wore its secondary form; a fourteen inch kukri with little feathers engraved along the lower spine.

Gripping the large blade tightly, Mercer focused his eyes on the rapidly approaching tree line. Upon entering, he instantly found what he wanted, a thick branch about sixteen feet from the forest floor. As he was about to pass that very limb, the teen reared his arm back and swung right as he passed the tree. The force caused the kukri to dig into the limb, and with the help of inertia and the curve of the blade, Mercer was pulled back and rotated around the limb before being tossed backwards. With a graceful flip and balance, he landed on the ground with a solid thud; his left hand on the ground and his body hunched over. Mercer stayed there, silent, breath held as he listened for anything nearby. His dark viridian eyes darted around to try to find any notion of movement.

Fifteen seconds passed...

Then forty-seven...

Finally after a full minute-and-a-half, he released the breath he held. Rising up, Mercer rolled his shoulders and neck to get out the kinks that sudden jerk caused. He looked around, taking in the small clearing he'd landed in. The young man let out a huff, looking bored. Glancing up, he was able to see a red blur pass overhead, hitting a small bird and causing it to explode.

With clear amusement of seeing the avian execution, Mercer let out a chuckle. "Well then... only thing to do now is move forward," he mused while sticking his left hand in his pants pocket, the other now twirling his weapon around his index finger by the hole in the trigger guard (a habit he had for both the kukri and the revolver) as he walked deeper into the Emerald Forest. A merry tune came to Mercer as he walked, choosing to whistle it casually. Once he passed under the tree that now held a deep ringed cut in one of its branches, the teen in black with green tattoos disappeared into the forest with his mind focused on two things.

Finding a partner, and locating the relics that the Headmaster wanted collected.

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Lush and quiet, nature was serene. Compared to other parts of the Emerald Forest this one was free, at least for the moment, of a bunch of super-powered teenagers with frankly ridiculous weapons. Nature would certainly approve of the lack of damage hormonal Humans and Faunus can cause with their tools of destruction.

Now if only something could be done about the bastardized abominations known as Grimm.

Which those monsters were not present at least. A few birds chirping in the trees, squirrels skittering around looking for acorns, a overly massive fluffy golden tail moving through the bushes... all normal faculties of nature.

…... OK that last one did not qualify as normal.

Sure there existed animals that possessed such poofy extremities, but not any that had a tail that was clearly as big as a young child. The massive brightly colored thing continued to shift along the brush-line, occasionally stopping and flicking briefly before continuing its scuttling. Clearly the owner of the tail meant to try and be stealthy, which clearly was a failed attempt.

How so?

Why due to a passing Ursa spotting the bright gold color and letting out a growl and proceeding to follow.

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"I mean... this way... definitely this way!"

Ruby could only sigh and watch the leaf she dropped slowly fall to the forest floor as the overabundance of white known as her partner pace back and forth. And talk to herself.

This girl really seemed to love the sound of her own voice.

How could she have ended up in this situation? This were supposed to be good day, an amazing day! After getting silent encouragement from Mercer, Ruby was going to show everyone that she was ready to be at Beacon! But then the downward spiral began which lead her to now sitting on the ground in the middle of a monster infested forest while the meanest & whitest white girl walked around in circles. First she killed a innocent little birdie on her way down (which was going to haunt her now!). Then she began to panic as soon as she hit the ground and started running. The scarlet colored girl wanted a partner she could work with for the next four years, like her sister, or Jaune who was nice but also awkward like her, or Mercer who she was curious about and just had this "awesome" air about him. But NO! She didn't find any of them! Instead she nearly tackled Weiss Schnee and ended up making eye contact, therefore pairing them as partners. Then she tried to leave... but came back! Minor victory, but still one in her book. Soon she and Weiss started arguing and Ruby thought she'd show the Heiress she was capable of being at Beacon. She didn't take insults like that lying down. Then they ran into Grimm, argued some more, and then everything was on fire!

Then the white haired girl had the nerve to say everything was her fault!. All she has been doing is complain and yell, and Ruby hated it. Weiss was... a-a bunch of bad words! Yeah, bad words! Like the kind Yang used one time when someone scratched her motorcycle and ran away or when their dad got tripped up by Zwei when trying to carry groceries.

Ruby got some nice cash with the swear jar in those moments.

Although now it was her new partner that deserved to be called those things! Maybe at least if she admitted that they were lost thanks to her, Ruby would see her in a slightly better light.

At that moment Weiss stopped and stood over the scythe-mistress. "Alright, it's official, we passed it," she stated in her haughty tone.

OR MAYBE NOT!

Throwing her source of staving of boredom, the leaf, to the ground, Ruby climbed to her feet. Exasperation covered her face as she looked at her new partner. "Why can't you just admit you have no idea where we're going?" She asked. At this point the younger girl just wanted it to end. Find the darn temple, get the relic, and get back and become a Huntress. But that would never happen if they stayed lost in this dumb forest.

The Heiress responded with a role of her eyes and a light glare. Clearly this... child... didn't understand anything. "Because I know exactly where we're going," she scoffed with a flick of her wrist as she walked forward some. Ruby responded by crossing her arms and giving the universal "I don't believe a word you just said" look. Clearly there was nothing but doubt. "We're going... to... the Forest Temple!"

The answer Weiss received from the red cloaked girl was an annoyed groan. The reaper uncrossed her arms and took a step. "Oh stop it! You don't know where we are either!" Weiss barked out, her thinly contained frustration with her companion leaking out more and more.

"At least I'm not pretending like I know everything!" Ah, here it goes, one of the oldest forms of conflicts in all of history that none have ever figured out a way to prevent... women arguing.

This was going to go... splendidly...

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"It means you're a... big, stupid jerk and I hate you!" Ruby snarled out, her brows creased in anger and a strands of her red-black locks coming undone. She has had enough of this bossy bully who clearly doesn't know what sunlight is!

"Argh... just keep moving," Weiss commanded. She really didn't want to deal with this right now.

"Oh just keep moving, hurry up, wah wah..." Ruby bit back by mimicking what she saw Weiss as, a spoiled child who isn't getting their way. Complete with the motion of wiping away fake tears. "...watch where you're going! Why are you so bossy?!" She was putting her foot down! Sure she was two years younger, but the Rose girl had done nothing to deserve such treatment!

The white themed turned on her heels, the alabaster locks of her ponytail whipping with great force. Had someone been standing next to her, they may have gotten slapped by the hair. "I'm NOT bossy! Don't say things like that!" She marched over to Ruby, clearly this was a situation that needed to be handled now.

"Stop treating me like a kid!"

"Stop acting like a kid!"

"Well stop acting like you're perfect!"

"I'm NOT PERFECT..." Weiss' sapphire eyes burned with something in that moment. A raging, cold flame. Determination. Desire. A goal she would reach and a victory she would attain. "Not yet... but I'm still better than you." There was noting more to be said, she simply turned once more and moved. Her will would carry her to the Temple, she didn't need to worry about this foolish child.

Her last words stung something fierce inside Ruby. All the anger and annoyance was swept away, and in its place came sadness and realization. People would always look at her age, nothing else. It was a stigmata Ruby would have to carry for the next four years and possibly beyond. A slight misting came to her innocent silver eyes. She didn't like it, she never would. "You don't even know me..."

She really wished that Weiss wasn't her partner.

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Yang kept her arms behind her head as she went deeper into the forest, only this time not alone. Next to her was her new partner; the ever calm Blake Belladonna. The dark beauty had shown up and killed a Ursa that Yang was getting ready to... probably rip into dozens of pieces. Literally. It had it coming! All the blonde wanted to do was find her sister in the dense, dangerous forest. After langing herself Yang began to really think about the overall situation. They had all just gotten thrown into a Grimm infest forest, told to find something with the least amounts of clues, and they'd be stuck with a partner in the form of the first person they made eye-contact with. In that order, those things ranged from understandable, to annoying, to downright stupid! It was that last one that really bothered Yang the most. Ruby, as skilled as she is, still remains a very impressionable girl. Sure, she might have told her big sister that she wanted "normal knees" and wouldn't want to stick out more, but in the end that wouldn't be the case. The thing with Ruby, is she always strives to prove others wrong when it comes to her opinions on her. People told her that she couldn't use a giant scythe as a weapon with her small frame? The little red reaper turns around and has the most notable scythe-meister known teach her to use one! Damn those Puppy Eyes of her's, easily got their Uncle Qrow to cave in. Yang knew her sister better than anyone, and she knew that Ruby would blindly try to impress people in order to prove them wrong. That was the problem. Because of that, Ruby could be tricked by someone wanting to take advantage her.

In what ways... Yang could already feel her anger boiling just thinking about it.

So soon after descending into the Emerald Forest, the brawler quickly set out to find the wayward rose. But instead, she found the Two Fugly Bears, and they committed the cardinal sin of MESSING WITH HER HAIR! So after thoroughly manhandling the first Ursa in a enraged berserker moment of flying fists and angry screaming, she was ready to deliver the same punishment to it's friend. But instead a swift, precise, and deadly strike from behind felled the Grimm in one blow. The killer of the Ursa was none other than Yang's new partner. Blake really was impressive, the blonde had no problem admitting that. No sound, instant kill... it was almost scary how the amber eyed girl so easily dispatched something that was at least four times the size of the two young women. Even now, walking next to her, Blake made no sound at all with her steps, her lithe body was both relaxed and readily coiled for battle at a moment's notice, and those entrancing eyes remained focus at all times yet still having that aloofness from the morning and night before.

Yang had no doubts, her partner was very good. She had a feeling they'd get along well~

Although... there was this nagging feeling of remembrance when she thought harder on the dark hair and brilliant yellow eyes of the Belladonna girl. Had they... met before...?

"...still worrying about your sister?"

The slightly monotonous voice of Blake brought the blonde out of her thoughts. Liliac met amber as she found her companion had slowed down to match her own pace. Despite seeming to be a more closed individual and antisocial at first, the genuine look of concern shone in her features. Worry for Ruby, worry for Yang, could have been either or both. But what mattered is Blake was invested in getting to know her partner.

Her arms came down from behind her head and locked behind her back at the waist. Yang relaxed some and let her emotions shine. "Yeah... I can't help it ya'know? I know she's more than capable of handling some Grimm in this place. My little sis is good like that, I have absolute faith in her. But that's not it... it's..."

"The others here in the initiation right?" Blake took a stab in the dark with her assumption. It was just a guess, but she assumed that it was the most likely case. Yang nodded. So she was right then. The secret Faunus turned her gaze back to in front of them, letting her minds work. After a moment, she spoke up. "I think... Ruby will be just fine. You said it yourself, you have faith in her." She then turned back to the blonde, who was now focused on her words. "Yeah she's two years younger than us, but that's is proof she can make it through this. We've spent years preparing to get to this point, and the fact that the Headmaster let her in early speaks volumes to what she can do. She's more than ready to handle anyone that tries to mess with her I think."

Momentary silence overtook the normally boisterous brawler, but Yang soon let a shining smile out to her partner. "You're right. Ruby can handle anything. I'd like to see anyone try to get fresh with her when she's got that oversized gardening tool in her grip," the blonde chuckled.

She was answered with a elegant laugh from the ravenette, a small smile gracing Blake's lips. "Its pretty funny that she uses such a massive weapon with her small body," a look of nostalgia entered her visage. She couldn't help but remember. "... Reapers will always carry their tools of death..." Blake trailed off, unaware of what her words just struck in her partner.

Yang was frozen in place. Her eyes wide and glazed over. Those words... she knew them very well and the man who said them even more. The blonde trembled, unable to contain the memories and shock that now rippled through her body. Yang had to know... was this... could it be...

"W-What did you just say...?

Hearing the shakiness of Yang's voice and the ceasing of her footsteps, Blake turned around to show her concern and attention. What she saw was the beautiful blonde, rigid in her posture, her face frozen in disbelief and hope. This change was extreme, not like what she had seen from the brawler. "Yang...?"

"What was that you just said..." she repeated again, the desperation glowing in her lilac eyes. "Please...?"

The ravenette turned completely, facing the other girl. "My mentor used to say that. He was like another father figure to me, I always wanted to be like them. When he talked about a Huntsman's weapon, he would say that; Reapers will always carry their tools of death-"

"-for they are the Harbingers of End, and the Bringers of the Beginning..." Yang cut in, continuing the phrase seamlessly, as if it was ingrained into her very soul. "... such is the Cycle of Life..."

"Everything in the world Begins and Ends with the Reaper's Work"

The last line, finished by both young women in unison, brought their eyes to met fully. All the world around them faded away. All that was left in Yang's eyes was Blake, and all that Blake could see was Yang. A tugging, gnawing feeling crawled in the back of their minds, driving them to try and remember. Their hearts, beating heavily together, called out for the truth. "My Uncle used the same phrase," Yang spoke, her voice quiet, yet more than enough for the Faunus to hear clearly. "To tell me all things come to an end, but always begin again."

Silence. Neither dared to speak. The gears of their memories spinning violently. Slowly... Blake's hand began to reach for her bow.

She didn't know why.

Her body was moving on its own.

Some part of Blake knew the risk of exposing her heritage, but her heart and soul commanded her to do this. Fingers delicately grasped the ribbon, tugging away from the black locks of hair. The bow shrunk and unraveled, settling tightly in Blake's hand. Her two dark, fluffy feline ears twitch at exposure to the air. They folded back some, the girl waiting to see how the blonde would react.

Glancing at the cat ears, Yang looked between them and the eyes of the girl that had them. The golden pools she had seen calm and predatory until now were instead large and hopeful, dashed with a hint of sorrow. They were the eyes of someone Yang met only once for a short time, but she never forgot them. The brawler brought her own hands up in response. Yet not to her scalp. Her fingers gently dug into the curly golden tresses and pulled them apart over her shoulders. Holding them together, the locks of spun gold looked like pigtails, mirroring how she kept it as a little girl.

As they were now, each of the young women did not see the current self of the one across from them. Rather, the sands of time went backwards, showing the little girls that met the day they buried the same man who they cared for deeply.

"Bl-"

The brighter one of the two was unable to fully speak, as a shadowy missile struck her without warning. Trembling arms wrapped around her biceps. Those cute little kitty ears folded down. And those amber eyes misted over with joy, rather than sorrow.

She shook and held tightly tightly to the brown jacket. After so many years, Blake found her friend. She was so happy, if not slightly ashamed. Those years of training and attempting to locate her Mentor's children became an obsession. She traded that one day of getting a instant and deep friendship for over a decade of blood, sweat, and tears to be a skilled warrior. Sure she has had comrades from her organization, but never a true friend like she did with the younger Yang. Even for those few hours, simply how they talked together made the pain of having to bury one they cherished that day more bearable. Though that unfortunately came to an end with both their parents calling them to go home.

Yang just smiled softly. This was somewhat like when she would do whenever Ruby would get upset as a kid. The blonde just wrapped her arms around the Faunus girl in return, to give comfort and acceptance. Big sisters like her are professionals at this after all. "Not such little girls anymore, are we Blake?" the brawler spoke softly, smiling lightly.

Pulling back, she matched the smile on her reunited friend and wiped away the tiny tears she had shed. "Not even close," the young woman in question chuckled. She looked her at her partner up and down in detail for the first time, smiling a little more. "You a whole lot just from a glance," Blake said, breaking from the hug at last, crossing her arms and shifting her hips to rest on the balls of her feet.

The response she got was a chortle of amusement and to sling her arm around the monochrome girl's shoulder. "Don't think you haven't either girl!" Pulling her tighter, Yang's little smile broke into a full blown grin showing all her pearly white teeth. "We'll both be turning everyone's heads when we walk around Beacon! You and me, we're fine as hell!" The golden girl's smirk threatened to split her face it seemed.

Blake could only smile more. Her own was bigger than any she had in years. Playfully, she rolled her eyes. "We need to finish this first Yang. Then we can do just that."

"Blakey, I'm sure the two of us will have no problem doing that~"

The looks shared by the two reunited friends said they both absolutely believed that to be true. Their thoughts where the same as well.

Best. Partner. Ever.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna... I would've thought they would be the kind of girls who would get along so well. Hmm... seems I was mistaken."

Ozpin was only semi listening to his oldest friend, still watching his own Scroll. There was still one person he wanted to see the most...

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Trees were so much faster than simply walking. That was his current assumption. Another loud thwak rang of the branch he just jumped off. The kenetic energy combined with the coiled muscles in his legs propelled Mercer to the next tree. From there, he launched himself of the next trunk and to another tree, adding a spin in the distance. A great way to get around faster. The ravenette gave up on just walking through the forest after about twenty minutes. Mercer wasn't worried about tiring out, part of his training he put himself through was specifically to have high stamina. He may not be able to go for an extreme amount of time, but still much longer than the average person and most likely many of his fellow initiates. Though that was not important right now, the Knight had to find a partner and get a relic to get into Beacon. While he was staying as relaxed as possible, Mercer mentally was thinking as much as he could on the current situation. He was most certain he was heading towards the Temple, that was the easy part. The one that was a bit more difficult was the partner situation. By this point, the tattooed teen was sure that nearly all the pairs would be formed. It would take a bit of luck to find a partner at this stage. Oh well, worrying wouldn't get him anywhere, just had to keep going like always. There was little need to fret over it. It reminded him of a motto he once heard... started with an H...

Oh well, he'd remember it at some point.

Thwak! Thwak! Thwak!

Tree to tree, he was covering a good bit of ground in the short time. Admittedly, Mercer couldn't help but feel bored. Nothing. He's come across absolutely nothing yet! No animals, no people, not even the damn Grimm! What the hell man?! The dark warrior wanted SOMETHING to have contact. He was bored and high-strung without having fought yet.

Something needed to show itself so he could fight it!

GRRRRRRAAAAAAWWWRRRRR!

…... ask and you shall receive.

A grin threatened to split his face as he turned towards the direction of the roar. It was clearly that of a Grimm, the way it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and how it grated his ears like nails on a chalkboard did. Despite that, Mercer was excited. His blood was pumping and his muscles tensed up in readiness for the upcoming battle.

Landing on one more branch, his green eyes peered out into a small open field. And their he found them; three Ursa all converging on one spot. Not all the same though as they ranged in sizes. The smallest was about the same size as the average adult Valian Cave Bear; big, but not as big as the other two. The next, the middle one, was about as big as standard two door car. Had a little bit of bone plating on it, giving it a little more protection than the littlest one that had none. Now the last one was the real brute. The biggest, around the size of a eight-seater van, was covered in more bone plating and even some spikes. That one was clearly on the older side and therefore would have a bit more intelligence than the other two. Even so, that wouldn't stop Mercer.

While a sneak attack was possible... he wasn't much feeling the need at the moment. Wanted a full, face to face confrontation. No substitute. Jumping from the tree, he landed with a hard thud. The dark clothed man hoped they easily heard that.

And they did.

Turning around, the glowing red eyes of hate in all three of the monsters set themselves on Mercer. Here was a human, that which they were born to destroy. In a display of power to hopefully strike fear into the child of Dust, the largest stood up on it's hind legs and let out a bellowing roar that matched the earlier one.

But Mercer... he just smiled.

"Well... well..." the young man walked around in place, his piercing eyes never straying from the three beasts. "... if it isn't the Three Bears!" Smiling more, he pointed at each of them. "There's Papa Bear," to the largest. "Mama Bear," to the next one. "And of course Baby Bear too~" with the last one he added more insult by mocking a cutesy voice. After that, the green eyed Knight moved his head around as if looking for something. "But I don't see Goldilocks anywhere..." Whether the Ursa understood that he was belittling them by comparing them to a children's bedtime story was irrelevant, as the Grimm just naturally looked pissed.

They growled at him again, and Mercer's smirk got even more snarky. "Oh did she run away...? Eat your porridge? Break your chair? Sleep in your bed?!" By this point he was borderline yelling at the monsters. "Come on..." he thought. Crossing his arms, Mercer finally turned his head away from the Ursa, adding another insult to them. "Maybe if you had just played nice-" He was cut off from saying more as the middle sized Ursa, the aforementioned "Mama Bear" charged at him with its right paw brought down in a diagonal swing. But the reflexes of the human where too great, and Mercer casually ducked down into a squat. His arms came uncrossed and a vicious, full teeth smile broke onto his face and his eyes reflected a promise of death. "That was very rude, I wasn't done TALKING!" punctuated with his final word, Mercer sprung up from his position and and used his tightened muscles to deliver a brutal open-palm uppercut to Mama Bear's lower jaw. The strike disoriented the Ursa and caused it to stagger back some. Using that moment, Mercer slithered away out of swiping range of the monster, taking a pose with his hands up and bouncing on his feet, keeping his body loose and ready to deliver maliciously quick blows.

Once it had finished seeing stars, Mama Bear growled out in anger and charged at Mercer, intending to shred him to pieces. The Knight had no intention of that and began to move out of the way of every strike the Ursa sent him. Weaving and dodging graciously as if he was a serpentine body of water. And every time a opening would present itself, Mercer would lash out; a jab like bullet or a brutal kick like a battering ram, all in a matter of seconds as the teen's highly trained muscles coiled with energy and would explode out with ever lash, only to quickly retract and coil again for the next strike. Each blow to its hide caused the Grimm to tire more and more, causing the attacks it released to lose their edge and for Mercer to counter with even more blows; two, three, even four times in a row he would strike the bear with no mercy. Mercer only continued to focus and grin. It was unknown if Grimm had a skeletal structure, but if they did then certainly all the bones in this particular Ursa's torso would have been grounded into dust by the unrelenting blows from its human foe. Finally he was getting to used all this pent-up adrenaline. Pulling out Broken Word, it's owner quickly shifted it to the kukri form with a twirl. Spinning it on his finger and getting a reverse grip, Mercer played the executioner. Bending his knees some, the ravenette waited for the right time and pushed himself with a rising kick to the Ursa's jaw. Now in the air, Mercer's arm came back and then crashed down, sending the fourteen inch blade his weapon into the eye of the Grimm. It roared briefly in pain before its head jerk down a little from Mercer's landing. With a brutal and unforgiving tug, the dark warrior ripped his weapon down and out of the Grimm's skull, tearing a large gash through most of it. There was no other stutter, the Ursa simply fell to the forest floor; unmoving, as black particles floated off it and into the air, the body evaporated.

Mama Bear was no more.

In response to the death of it's kin,"Baby Bear" roared out in hate and bellowed at the man. It wasn't as big as the others, and didn't move as fast, but the Ursa was determined to kill. Mercer gave it no real worry, his posture not breaking the slightest. The sounds of metal shifting once again occurs, and Mercer's arm swings up to point the massive gun at the Grimm. With a sound like roaring thunder, Mercer squeezed the trigger and it's high-caliber bullets flew out with blinding speed. One, two, three, and four times the mighty gun went off and shook the forest with the blasting scream of Broken Word. All four shots found their target, blowing large holes in the shoulders, back, and finally face of the charging Baby Bear. It tripped over itself and the body skidded along to stop at Mercer's feet. The same black particles coming off it like with the other indicated that it was dead before it even stopped moving.

There was little time to admire his handiwork, as Mercer was soon shaded from the sun's rays by a massive shadow. He took no time to look up, choosing rather to roll to the side before a paw as big as a tire came down and shattered the ground where he once stood. At long last "Papa Bear" had decided to enter the fray and do combat with the Knight scion. Seeing the towering Creature of Grimm only made Mercer's blood pump faster. This what he really wanted, the other two were only a warm-up. Despite the thing's size, this Ursa just proved it could be deceptively fast. For that, Mercer only steadied his breathing, the green of his eyes and the Dust on his arms starting to glow like emerald starlight. Wisps of green energy rolled off and around Mercer's body like mini gale fore winds. As the Ursa moved again to attack, the warrior sprung forth, moving at a speed that only left a fading trail of green light behind. The paw of the Ursa once again hit a empty space, it's movement nothing more than lumbering in comparison to the superhuman speed demonstrated by it's opponent. Turning around to strike once more, Papa Bear only hit the ground again. Mercer having already move to the other side. If one where to walk into the clearing at this very moment, they would see a giant Ursa failing to make contact with Mercer, the teen moving in the blink of an eye. Dashing and jumping around the monster at a speed that made it look like he teleported. Though it was no such case with that.

All the while, Mercer analyzed the Ursa, looking for the best way to take it down. Or the most humiliating. It was interchangeable really. Looking at the hind legs... he got an idea. The next time the Ursa tried to swipe at him, Mercer moved behind it at a good distance. When he felt like he was far enough, he waited. Seeing the human farther away from it, the Ursa took the moment to stare down the green eyed teen before letting out another roar and charging at it's top speed. Mercer, on the other hand, remained still. For this to work, the timing would have to be completely perfect. If not, then he either needs another tactic or end up dead. Soon the massive beast reached him and lunged at him with it's front legs stretched out to catch him.

Just what Mercer wanted.

Using his enhanced super speed, Mercer slid under the Ursa between its back legs. As he passed, Mercer brought his leg up before lashing it out at the knee of the Ursa's left leg. The amplified force behind the kick literally caused the furred leg to cave in backwards and become useless. Adjusting himself, the Knight drew his gun and let loose his fifth round into the right leg of the Grimm, nearly blowing it in two. As to be expected, the sudden loss of both it's hind legs caused the monster to fall to the ground with a harsh thud. But Mercer was far from done. Springing up, the climbed the Ursa's back and grabbed hold of the two longest spines jutting from the creature's back. In a display of great strength, Mercer breaks them off with two loud CRACKS! Holding them in each of his hands, Mercer comes over the arch of the downed Ursa's back and jumps up, coming down and planting and wicked heel strike to the Ursa's skull. Disoriented, there was nothing it could do but roar in pain as the Knight took it's own spines and drove them through it's front paws and deep into the ground. Now without the back legs and the front pinned to the ground, Papa Bear was completely immobilized.

Stepping off the Grimm's body, Mercer looked down and the defeated monster. Indifferent emerald met with hateful red. The victor was clear, and Mercer pulled his weapon from the holster one final time. Kneeling down, he pressed the barrel of the revolver right between the Ursa's eyes.

"Nighty night."

And with a sixth thunderclap from Broken Word, the last Ursa was embraced by death.

With the barrel still smoking, Mercer glanced over the three dissolving corpses of Grimm. Popping the chamber open, the teen emptied his weapon of the empty casings. Pulling out six more from one of the various pouches on his person, he quickly reloaded the gun. The forest was now silent. Nothing could be heard anywhere nearby. Taking a calming breath, Mercer suddenly caught a flash of gold in a bush. Ironically... the same one the three Grimm were heading towards earlier.

"Maybe Goldilocks was here after all..."

Keeping that thought to himself, Mercer turned to the bush and spoke. "It's alright, the Grimm are dead."

No response.

"You can come out now."

Still nothing.

"... it's safe..."

…... nada.

By now, Mercer's eye was twitching in annoyance. "Fine... if that's how you want to play it..." muttering to himself, Mercer hunched over. He remained still for a moment... then pounced! Leaping into the bush, he collided with something smaller than him and let out a high pitched "Eep!" in response.

With that action, sharp emerald green was met with wide electric blue.

Pinned below him, was a feminine, young Faunus (Simply known by the gigantic fluffy golden furred fox tail) with startled blue eyes and pale skin.

Seeing the rather... compromising position they where in, Mercer uttered a quick notion of "Shit" and got off the other person. He moved next to the Fox Faunus and sat with his legs crossed, examining the person. A large golden tail with longer hair the same shade, shining yet scared blue eyes, and a white & gold outfit of a very clear Mistralian origin. The pale, girly face showed that they looked younger than Mercer himself.

He gave out a sheepish laugh and a apologetic grin. "Sorry about that. The heat of battle was still in my blood and I reacted dumbly. I don't usually tackle pretty young girls like yourself out of nowhere."

The Faunus across from him finally spoke, in a light, timid, and young voice. "A-Actually..."

The Knight raised an eyebrow.

"...I-I'm a boy..."

"... huh..."

…... it's a trap!

END

Finally... I don't even want to think about how long it took to get this done. Now I only hope it is actually good. After all this time I wouldn't blame anyone if they chose to give up on me. Real life is kicking my ass every day between constant work with my job and a now constant sharp pain in my right knee. It's three in the morning, I gotta go to work in 6 hours, and I'm exhausted.

I would say more. Really would, but my body is not wanting to cooperate with me at all and I must give into it's demands.

I know now that I won't promise any set time frame for uploads. With real life, occasional discouragement, and the ever dreaded curse of writer's block, I can only say the next update from me will be... sometime.

I hate saying that, leaves an awful taste in my mouth. But there's little more I can say.

Until next time, please be sure to read, review, and PM if you wish to.

Enjoy the long awaited chapter... hopefully it's good.