Pink Lotus
"Noraaaaaaaa."
"Noraaaaaaaaaa!"
"Nora, please come out!"
Ren, Jaune, and Pyrrha were scouring Forever Fall for their teammate. She'd gone out to slaughter some Grimm at dawn, and hadn't returned or called any of them.
"Ren, try her again." Jaune said. Ren pulled out his scroll and called his partner. It went straight to her voicemail.
"Her scroll is off."
"Damn. Noraaaaaaaaa."
After a half-hour of walking, they stopped for a break by a creek.
"Where is she?" Jaune asked the air. For obvious reasons, the air didn't respond.
"We should split up." Pyrrha suggested.
"Yeah, good idea. Pyrrha, check over by the lake. Ren, check around where we gathered sap last semester. I'll circle back toward the school. Maybe we passed her." Jaune gestured.
"Or she passed us." Ren countered.
"Yeah, whatever." Jaune set off. Pyrrha shrugged. Ren jumped up into the trees. He jumped from bough to bough, searching for any sign of pink. Which of course, led to moments of confusion when his hair got in his eyes.
"Noraaaaaaaa." He called as he ran. A familiar clearing was up ahead. He burst through and ducked into a roll. He brushed off his sleeves.
"Nora, if you're out here, we're worried." Ren heard growls. He sighed. The Ursa smashed the ground where he had been standing, but Ren had jumped into the air already. StormFlower slid down his sleeves into his hands, and he stabbed their blades at the Ursa's eyes. The gigantic bear Grimm blocked his attack, and batted him away carelessly. Ren smashed into a tree, and shook his head. Through his blurry vision, he saw the Ursa get down on all fours and charge at him. He fired Stormflower at it, the Dust bullets flashing different colours as they hit the Grimm's flesh. It only served to irritate the beast. He felt a hand grip the back of his outfit.
"This time, I'm actually gonna help." Nora smiled. She yanked Ren up into the tree, and pulled Magnhild off her back in its grenade launcher form. She fired a few shells, irritating the Ursa, and jumped over it, landing behind it. She shifted Magnhild into its hammer form.
"Come on, beastie! I wanna make a rug out of you!" She taunted the Ursa. It roared at her and charged. She raised Magnhild as if she was a baseball batter on the mound. The Ursa came within range and Nora swung Magnhild, firing it in the middle of the swing, to add more power to the hit. The Ursa's neck was broken on impact, and it was launched over the crest of the horizon.
"That. Was. AWESOME! I've wanted to try that for a while." Nora watched the Grimm dematerialise as it fell. Ren jumped out of the tree. His vision faded when he landed.
"Hey. Are you alright?" Nora's voice came from beside him.
"Yeah, just give me a second."
He felt her poke his nose.
"Boop." She said.
"I love you too." He sighed tiredly.
"How did you know that's what it meant?" Nora gasped.
"I know you."
"Fair enough." Ren shook his head gently to clear his vision. Nora's face was right in his.
"Hey." Ren said.
"Hey."
Ren leaned in to kiss Nora, but he saw Pyrrha rush into the clearing. Nora stood up, cracking her head off a branch.
"There you are!" Pyrrha exclaimed.
"Here I am." Nora agreed.
"Are you alright, Ren? There's blood on your forehead." Pyrrha pointed. Ren wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. The red streak on his hand made him frown.
"I'll be fine." He stood up, wobbling slightly.
"Let me help you." Nora grabbed his arm and put it around her shoulders. He leaned on her gently. Pyrrha pulled her scroll from one of the hidden pockets in her armour.
"Jaune? We found her. Ren took a hit from an Ursa. We're on our way back."
"Pyrrha, go ahead and get a stretcher or something for Ren." Nora said. Pyrrha nodded and ran ahead. When she was out of sight, Nora kissed Ren's cheek.
"Where were you?" Ren asked.
"I was looking for sloths."
"Are you serious?"
"Of course, silly!" Nora kissed Ren gently.
"Finally." Ren said.
"Finally."