The red trees of the Forever Fall forest were especially beautiful this day as Teams VRTX, FLAR, PEPR, DSRT, RWBY, JNPR, CRDL, and Professor Goodwitch walked along the thin dirt path.
Professor Peach had wanted her students to gather jars of sap from the trees in order to finish an experiment. Professor Goodwitch was there to ensure that the students would be safe in their attempts.
"Wow..." Violet said in awe as she stared wide eyed at the beauty of the forest. "This is amazing..." She said, turning to her team with a big smile across her face.
Ross kept moving without a single glance around him, "It's not that impressive." He stated, continuing with the rest of the students.
The rest of team VRTX gave Ross surprised stares, one of them even gasped.
"How could you say that, Ross? You're the guy who stares wide eyed at concrete. Freaking concrete!" Xavier pointed out.
"Indeed. This behavior is not common of you, Ross." Tanya added, following close behind her teammates.
"Meh. It's not unlike my own home." Is all Ross gave in reply.
As the four students further inquired about Ross' homeland, another individual gazed down at the group of students from a tall tree.
He had a pair of binoculars held to his blood red eyes, staring malevolently down at them. Specifically two teams...
"Targets are in sight. Should I proceed?" He asked someone on the other end of a mic.
"No... There are too many hunters down there."
"Pfft. Hunters, dude? These kids are just prep students with gun-swords."
"We do not need you to be spotted, Agent."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know." The young man assured his accomplice.
"We would appreciate it if you took this matter more seriously, boy."
"Alright! Alright... You got a plan?" He asked, staring at one student in particular. One pigtailed student in tan and brown.
"Divide and conquer, my boy."
"Really man? Just split'em up? That's your big plan for killing off these kids?"
"Just shut your mouth and finish your mission."
"Alrighty then. 'Divide and conquer' it is."
The young man shut his mic down, then let out a long sigh. What a jerk... He thought while staring at the group of students he was assigned to harass and possibly kill.
The boy shrugged as he grabbed his Grimm mask, designed to resemble a Deathstalker, and slid it over his pale face. He reached behind him and gripped the handle of his double barreled greatsword-shotgun. Time for daddy to go to work...
A pitch black jumpsuit coated his body, as well as bone white pads growing over his vital areas. He let out a sigh, then looked down at the Deathstalker Grimm waiting at the base of the tree.
He hopped down from his perch and landed on the back of the beast. It didn't even flinch as the boy sat on its back comfortably.
"Alright, let's go." The boy in the Grimm suit commanded, before the giant black scorpion set off.
Back with the students, Violet and Ross were talking to Robin from FLAR about an incident of his.
"So, I was just walking, you know?" He explained to the two of them, gaining interested nods. "Then, completely out of nowhere, this army helmet comes falling from the sky! It hits me right on the head!"
Violet and Ross exchanged guilty stares, before turning back to Robin. "Go on."
"Oh, well then as I'm trying to get back up, some paper axes come falling as well! They slam me in the head too, knockin' me right back down on the floor."
Mango came to their mind as they listened in.
"I have no idea how a paper axe could give me a concussion, but it did. I spent the rest of the day, as well as the next in the infirmary."
As they spoke to Robin about his woes, Xavier and Tanya were gathering sap like they were instructed to.
"Kinda wish those two lazy bums would take some responsibility every once in awhile." Xavier grumbled as he filled up a jar and handed it to his intellectual friend.
"Agreed; our teammates do have a tendency to demonstrate lethargic behaviors." Tanya nodded as she added the jar to their stack.
"So..." Xavier was having a hard time finding something to talk about. "Uhh... Brother!" He exclaimed, lifting a finger triumphantly, "How's your brother been?" He asked, turning to her to grab another empty jar.
"Brother?" Tanya relayed, being reminded of Forest. She turned around to stare at her brother and that Lilac girl chatting away while their sole responsible teammate; Amber filled up everyones jars. "I try not to think about him."
Xavier nodded thoughtfully, "I know how you feel, I've had my own share of family issues."
Another memory of the tall, proud Irvine flashed through Xavier's mind.
"Don't worry, little guy! I'm gonna be fine." Irvine assured as he went to talk to that boy; Adam.
"Family issues..." Xavier repeated, placing the jar in the hole that leaked sap. "Just be happy that you know Forest's okay, you got that?" Xavier assured, turning to Tanya, only to find she wasn't there. Figures...
Tanya was walking away from the other students as she saw a bright gold light flash from behind her. Her curiosity peaked, she couldn't help but investigate.
"What do you call an alligator in a vest? An investigator!"
Tanya shook her head, a small smile on her face. Forest, you tell the most idiotic jokes. She thought as she walked past a a few trees, the group of students growing further and further away. But now I find myself missing them.
"Sup nerd."
Tanya turned around to see mysterious figure, similar to the one that attacked Ross leaning against a tree, his arms crossed.
"You're pretty far from the rest of the little humans now, aren't you?" He asked rhetorically, before making his way slowly over to Tanya.
"Who are you, what is your objective?!" Tanya demanded, turning her bracelets into her Mirror Wheels and quickly producing two clones behind her.
The Grimm boy cocked his head and shrugged, "I think he wanted me to 'Divide and Conquer', or something like that." He replied, loosing a five foot long greatsword with a bright yellow blade from his back, "You're divided now, aren't you? So I guess I gotta do the conquering part now."
Tanyas nodded, a focused glare about their faces. "I'd like to see you try, imbecile..."
"What did you just call me?" the Deathstalker boy questioned.
"An 'imbecile', an eight letter word for 'idiot', meaning someone who is devoid of intelligence, or commonly known as 'dumb'." She explained quickly to her opponent.
"I know what it means, you wordy, fore-eyed brat!" He exclaimed before delivering a quick horizontal slash at the girl!
Two Tanyas backflipped away from the attack while the central Tanya was obliterated. They grunted in slight pain as she poofed away into a cloud of tan vapor.
"You're not gonna beat me on your own, little Huntress." The boy mocked, walking slowly toward her, "No matter how many times you extend yourself, I'll smash all of you."
Tanya growled angrily before adding seventeen more. "You're slow," They all said in unison, "And you can defend against this many of me."
"Pfft. Watch me."
The young man flipped and switched his sword around and turned it into a sawed off double-barrel shotgun with a four foot long bayonet. The Tanyas all swarmed around him, letting out screams of anger as bullets flew from their chakrams.
The Grimm boy chuckled as tendrils of darkness enveloped him, quickly transforming into a rock hard carapace that deflected all her shots. "You like my Semblance, fore-eyes?" He taunted, before charging up a ball of golden energy in his free hand, "Or what about this one?" He added as he threw the ball past the horde of Tanyas.
The Tanyas couldn't tear their eyes away from the entrancing ball of light as it zipped past them. While they were distracted, the Deathstalker boy was blowing down each clone, one by one.
They finally caught their senses back, then turned to face him as there were only five of them left.
"Cut it out with all the stupid clones, honey. I wanna see what you can do on your own." He told her, turning his shotgun back into a greatsword.
"Did you hear that?"
Lilac lifted her head up and looked around. She and her leader Forest were having a conversation about alligators.
"Hear what, Lilac?" Forest asked, cocking his head curiously as his teammate walked off further into the forest. "Lilac, where are you going?"
Lilac didn't seem to be paying attention as she kept walking.
"Lilac!"
She turned around quickly to see Forest again.
"Are you gonna tell me what's up?" Forest inquired, moving slowly toward her. "You said that you heard something,"
Lilac nodded quickly, "Yep! It sounded like gunfire." She chirped, a big smile on her face.
"Gunfire?" Forest questioned, receiving an affirmative nod from the girl. "Where's it coming from?" He asked, gripping the handle of Dainsleif, his High Concentration Axe-Ballista.
Lilac grew a wicked smile as he took this action, "I was hoping you'd do that! It's this way!" She cheered, running off further into the woods.
As they ran, Tanyas fought.
Clone after clone was thrown into the fray. Tanyas screamed in anger as their chakrams flew and released flurries of bullets, all were blocked by the hard carapace defending the mysterious Grimm boy.
"You know, it was extraordinarily easy to lure you out here, human!" He taunted, slashing hard through a clone and throwing another over his shoulder. "I mean, all I had to do was shine a glowing light and you came running!" He continued, dashing around two charging Tanyas and blowing them away with a quick succession of blasts, "Maybe next time I should just dangle a chicken wing in front of you guys? I mean, that dog doesn't seem to bright; he might fall for it."
Tanyas gritted their teeth and fought the urge to scream, "Don't you dare even imagine delivering harm to those I care about!" She spat, one finally landing a hit from a thrown chakram to the mysterious boy's head.
His head craned from the hit and he cursed under his breath.
"Okay... Oww..." He winced in an annoyed tone, "You hit me, you jerk! Why would you do that!?" He mocked.
This guy is just toying with me! She thought. It doesn't matter how much of me I throw at him; he'll just keep swatting me away!
It was then that the unexpected happened.
All Tanyas and the Grimm Kid turned their heads as a large spearhead attached to a chain flew through the air, landing hard into the carapace of the boy. High power gunshots rang as a girl came sprinting, each step propelled by a round bursting in her revolver heals.
"Taaaaah!" Screamed Lilac as she delivered a hard punch to the stranger's face, sending him flying back!
The chain lodged into the boy's armored shoulder tightened, then Forest came flying at the Grimm Boy, his ballista retracting and pulling him in for a hard kick to the stranger's face.
"Don't you even..." Forest growled through gritted teeth at the boy in the Grimm suit. He ripped the spearhead from his shoulder and flipped away, landing directly beside one of his younger sister.
"Forest!" Cried the nearest Tanya, "Y-you're here!?" She whimpered.
"Shut it kid! I'm not gonna let my sister get killed by some freak in a black morph suit!" Forest growled, spinning his ballista in his hand and turning it into an intricate pole-axe. "Besides, it's not cool to let your sister die..." He added that last comment with a small smile, before turning to her opponent.
"Alright, you weird Grimm freak, you wanna dance?" Forest taunted, pointing Dainsleif threateningly.
Lilac came running to the Goldwin siblings' side, taking up a loose fighting position.
"Aww... You two are such cute siblings!" Lilac squeed joyfully as she looked at the two blondes. "I should take a quick photo of you two-"
"Lilac- fight!" Forest ordered, gaining a quick nod.
The Grimm boy got to his feet, then threw a hateful gaze at the three students. Part of his mask had been blown off from the double whammy delivered by Forest and Lilac. In the upper righthand section of his face was flawless pale skin, a right eye that was an unnatural red and scruffs of his payne grey bangs fluttered out the hole in his mask, waving slightly in the calm wind.
"You idiot humans did it now..." He growled, his blood red eye flaring with anger, "That was my favorite mask..."
In a flash of golden light, the boy appeared just before the group. Before any of them could react, he delivered a powerful kick to Forest's stomach, sending him flying back, then swatting at the legs of Lilac, tripping her, before spinning deathly fast and obliterating five more Tanya clones.
"Lilac, semblance!" Ordered Forest, who had fired his ballista into the ground and reeled himself quickly toward it to shorten his airtime.
Lilac nodded, putting on a grin. This grin quickly went south as her skin began to pale, her eyes glowing a haunting yellow and her teeth began to transform into fangs. Lilac's fingers grew four inch claws that she jabbed into the grassless ground, lodging herself firmly in.
"Graaaarghh!" She screamed horrendously as she aimed her revolver-heels at the Grimm Boy and began to let loose a flurry of high caliber pistol rounds.
"What the-" The stranger cursed as he flipped and dodged away from the sweet girl turned ogre, "By Luna, that's horrifying!" He squeaked, before shaking some sense back into himself.
Lilac had pulled herself from her place in the ground and looked hungrily at her prey. She screamed once more, breaking into another sprint, firing her heels to accelerate each step and creating a crater with each contact made with the floor.
"Oh my god!" Screamed the boy in the Grimm suit as Lilac closed in. He'd been firing shot after shot from he shotgun, but she'd dice each bullet wish a flourish of her claws.
Just before Lilac would have dug her four inch claws into her prey's gut, a missile came flying in. It smashed right between the two of them, creating a large crater and sending Lilac flying back.
The Grimm kid looked to his left and saw a truck of sorts, a turret on the top that was manned by the boy in the Beowulf outfit from days before.
"Get in, you idiot!" Another more feminine voice screamed as the side of the truck slid open, revealing a girl who wore a costume reminiscent of a Nevermore.
"I've got these nasty humans on the ropes though!" The Deathstalker boy yelled back at them. His cocky demeanor faded once more when he noticed the monster known as Lilac shaking and trying get to her feet.
"Now!" the Nevermore girl screamed once more. The Deathstalker boy complied with a nod, sprinting toward the truck and releasing a round of bullets at Lilac and the Goldwins, who had to stay back as to be out of Lilac's way.
As soon as the boy hopped into the truck, the side door slammed shut and they sped away, the turret on the top trying to gun down the monstrous girl that chased them.
"Lilac, stop!" Forest commanded, as one would instruct a dog.
The girl in question halted unnaturally quickly, her skin color returning, her eyes closing softly, her claws reverting to their naturally filed nails from before. She was now the sweet and simpleminded girl named Lilac spring, not the relentless monster that nearly gored the boy from before.
"That was... most unsettling..." Tanya, the only one at this time, murmured.
"You're telling me? I have to live with her!" Remarked Forest as he made his way over to his teammate, catching her by her shoulders to make sure she didn't fall down.
"Forest..." Murmured Tanya as she inched closer to her older brother, who looked over his shoulder at her momentarily before returning to comfort his teammate.
"...Don't worry, Lilac..." Were one of the things she heard, as well as, "... No, no... You're not a monster..." and also, "...Hey, I'm your friend. You're a beautiful girl, not an ugly monster..." But the most interesting one in Tanya's opinion was: "...Don't you worry, I won't leave you. I'll be here for you whenever you need me. I'll be your knight..."
"I'll be your knight..." Tanya reflected, remembering what Forest had been told be their parents when they were still alive.
"Forest," Their father said in his proud voice, "I want you to always be there for this girl, you here?"
Forest then turned to Tanya, a nervous look on his face, "B-but Dad? Why do I need to-"
Their father cut him off by placing a hand on both their heads and turning them towards each other, "You come from a long line of knights and gentlemen, Forest." He began to explain, "One day I can't be here to defend you and your sister, so it's up to you to be the knight. You understand, boy?"
All Forest could do was nod to his towering father, whose forest green eyes looked sternly at the boy. Tanya stared at them too, seeing the love and worry behind them. She didn't know if her brother could see it, but she definitely could.
"I want you to be your sister's knight, always protecting her. You got that?"
"Yes Father."
"Good, son."
It was rare that Tanya would think about the times with her parents. They never did anything more than bring a tear to her eye.
Now, Tanya stared at her knight; her brother.
He'd found a new princess to protect...
She couldn't the single tear that had escaped her, as much as she wanted to.
Chapter 9 is complete.
I am SO sorry that it took this long to update! I just really needed a break, y'know. I had family stuff to deal with, thanksgiving, my schoolwork, just a lot of bologna I had to take care of.
I'm back now! Though I don't know if I can update frequently. I love this story and I love my teams, but everyone needs a break every once in a while, right?
Read and Review, I'll see you dudes in the next chapter!
Artisan Out!
Next Up: Stormy Skies, no, we're not shipping!