Four Is A Crowd
Underground Ruins Are Exciting!
The morning was a bit of a blur to Sieg.
Instead of just letting the slackers or heavy sleepers remain asleep and fail, the prefects rushed everyone out to get tidy and presentable for the initiation test. The flurry of motions could only really be described as chaotic because not a single person was prepared to wake up before the crack of dawn. The urgent words of the hustling and bustling prefects seemed to buzz at their minds and nobody was really sure when they had been split off into random groups again.
By the time he realized it, after walking a mind-numbingly long way with a syrupy aftertaste in his mouth, he was standing next to a cliff somewhere west — or was it east? — of Beacon Academy.
"That's a long way down," he mumbled to himself as he looked down the cliffside. He briefly wondered where the the rest of the other students were, 'I guess they're taking their test elsewhere...' before stifling a yawn and lightly stretching.
A somewhat stocky and elderly — but not too old — gentleman stood next to the cliff with his hands behind his back. His gray hair was combed neatly to the sides, his thick eyebrows had a serpentine-curve to them, and his comically-large mustache covered up his entire mouth from view.
"Hey ho, students! It's always nice to see such eager faces just raring to prove themselves on the field of battle!" He was a rather jolly person, though a bit of his energy was taken down a notch when he noticed that none of the students were quite as jovial as himself. "Yes, well, today is your initiation test, young huntsmen and huntresses. Your skills will be tested at the Sapphire Shore down below us and you will be graded on how well you perform. If you have any questions, you should ask now before the test begins."
A high-class girl raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"What is the objective of our test and how will we be evaluated, sir?"
"Hmm, yes, down at the base of the Sapphire Shore are multiple entrances that will lead you to a fairly large ruin that is just brimming with Grimm." The elderly professor seemed to had a habit of pacing around and gesturing with one arm while he spoke. "Inside those ruins, we have hidden some relics and your goal will be to retrieve them. As for your grades, it will be primarily based on your speed and efficiency at getting in and out of the ruins with your relic."
"Understood," she nodded, "How will we identify the relics?"
"You'll know them when you see them but I'll give you a hint: black or gold as opposed to blue," he answered briskly and then quickly raised a finger, "Ah, another thing! The amount of relics that we've hidden are limited, there won't be enough for each of you. Only those who are able to bring back a relic will score well on this test."
"Hm?" Sieg felt like something was odd about the statement just now but couldn't quite put his finger on it. His mind was thinking elsewhere. 'Not enough relics; so we're competing against each other, huh? This could get dicey.' He knew that fighting people was far more difficult than just fighting the Grimm.
Another student was crouched over at the edge and staring below, "So how do we get down?"
"That will be up to you." The elderly gent raised his hand, "Well then, your test begins..." and chopped it down, "Now!"
There was a slight pause of recognition as everyone blinked before they began scrambling off and down the immense cliff.
Sieg jumped atop his greatshield — one foot hooked under the handle — and used it as a board while he used his ultra-greatsword behind him as a brake-and-balance. The experience was pretty similar to the rugged mountain-surfing he did back home, so long as he avoided the concave areas of the cliff-face then he could just surf his whole way down without much of a problem.
To his misfortune though, his method was by far one of the slowest.
The majority of people were those who had immediately plummeted off the cliff and planned to use their high-impact weapons to slow down their descent as soon they neared the bottom. Everyone else, which were not many, was jumping from ledge-to-ledge because they lacked the high-power concussiveness of the former.
He still had more than one-tenth of the way to go, while most everyone else were hitting the halfway mark.
"Too slow!" he scolded himself, "I'm falling way behind!"
'There's always that,' his mind supplied.
'I hate that,' he argued back.
'Time's running out.'
"Ah, grimm-shit!" he growled in frustration. His head frantically swept left and right as he looked for anything jutting that he could use as a ramp. He found one, to the pleasure of his wry smile. "This is gonna suck! This is gonna suck! This is gonna suck!" he repeated as his mantra while the inevitability of the ramp came closer. His greatshield soon skid off and sailed into the air. Time seemed to stop as he hung in the air for a moment, then gravity returned with a vengeance and left him helplessly spinning in freefall.
"This! Is! Gonna! SSSUUUUCCCCCKKKKKK!"
[...]
His body felt like jello, his head was ringing, his eyes were all a blur, his throat... oh, there we go. He turned over from his back, fumbled as he tore away his mask, and puked out his golden-baked breakfast. The acid clung to his tongue and throat and soon sobered him right up from his bout of dizziness.
He wiped his mouth on his sleeves and idly wondered just how much time had he wasted on being dazed? It was probably equal to the amount of time he had hoped to save from the wild fall in the first place.
Sieg picked up his mask and clipped it onto his belt. The fresh but salty air coming from the sea was much preferred over his own sour mess. He crawled and then stumbled out of the sand-pit — nothing broken but everything ached. It wasn't luck that he survived, merely a combination of his semblance granting him enhanced toughness along with the ever-usefulness of his greatshield's shock-absorber that allowed him to come out fairly uninjured despite the madness of it all.
He luckily didn't need to search far to find an entrance to the ruins because there was one right in front of him.
'Hope there's still a relic for me to find, though...'
He tripped once or twice on the way but he knew that he would be a-okay soon enough.
Granted, after the tenth trip or so, he decided that it wouldn't hurt him to take a little rest before he carried on...
[...]
It was damp. It was cool. It was surprisingly not as dark as he had imagined despite the deep shadows.
Little luminescent fungus and moss grew here and there along the artificially-carved stone floors and the natural-rocky walls. Their teal-colored glow lit enough of the ruins in a patchwork-fashion for it to be safely navigated. If he could, Sieg would have just sat down and draw a picture of this place, but time was of the essence.
He wandered around with his ears perked, trying to find more sound other than the drip-drops that came from the ceiling, the soft howling winds which often brushed by, or the splish-splosh of the unseen waves further down below. It wasn't being alone that bothered him nor was it the chance of being ambushed. 'Did everyone else already grab a relic and leave already?' He couldn't help but feel uncertain and apprehensive as he went deeper and deeper into the ruins.
Thud. Clank.
Sieg definitely heard that due to the echoes of this place; it sounded like a body and a weapon had dropped to the floor.
"Hey!" he shouted to the inky silhouette some ways ahead.
It saw him and quickly retreated down one of the many winding paths. The thumping of their hasty running soon disappeared.
Sieg didn't bother giving chase — the Grimm never retreated, as far as he knew — and he was almost positively certain that the escaped-silhouette was simply another student.
'Maybe I still got a chance after all...'
It was a bit of a relief for him to know that there were still people in here. Though he promptly ignored the tingling thoughts at the back of his mind that questioned whether they were also late like him, simply lost, or just didn't realize that were — perhaps — no more relics to be had.
Eventually Sieg reached a body sprawled on the floor and went to checked up on her. "Still alive..." He didn't exactly care for well-being of the stranger but he didn't exactly wish death to every random person either. "But that's at least one competition out of the way..." His eyes soon spotted a battleaxe laying besides her, 'It'd be troublesome if she wakes up,' and kicked it over the ledge, 'without her weapon, she'll have to give up exploring the ruins.'
He then scratched the back of his head. "But, shit, did that other guy have a relic on him? Should I chase him down?"
'They're probably long gone.'
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Hm? Wait, what was that?"
'Opportunity, that's what. Get a move on!'
Sieg chased down the noise until he finally arrived at the battlefield.
Around the two combatants was a mountain of corpses. He couldn't identify what kind of Grimm they once belonged to — as he wasn't familiar with the aquatic or amphibious-types — but he didn't dwell on that and hid himself behind the pile of black-and-white bodies.
His attention was on the two female combatants.
He recognized both of them; the faunus-girl from the dining-hall yesterday and the high-class girl asking questions from this morning.
The reptilian-girl used a lance as her weapon — a fairly heavy one-way weapon with charges as its specialty that generally had trouble at engaging in rigorous melee. To Sieg's surprise, she had a somewhat creative way of utilizing her weapon's primary method of attack: she darted non-stop all over the field and ricocheted from any direction like a particularly nasty and relentless hornet.
Her opponent, however, was no slouch either.
The high-class girl with icy-white hair tied into a ponytail easily kept up with the speedy multi-directional assault. She had two swords — the right was longer than the left — with ornate crossguards that shielded the wielder's hands. Her offense was equally as good as defense as she constantly exchanged attacks and counterattacks at every charge sent her way.
"Surrender! I shall never be defeated by a sub-human such as you!"
"Shut up, you fucking bitch! I'll tear you apart!"
'Hah... it's nothing but trouble if I get involve with their fight.' Losing interest, Sieg looked around for the thing that might have started their fight.
It didn't take very long for him to spot a marble-black object amongst the bleak-blue ruins.
It was a distinctly smooth object, which say atop a pedestal, that looked sleek and new compared to the aged and worn ruins around it. 'That must be one of the relics for the test.' It was also, fortunately, some distance away from the center of battle. He stuck to edge, behind the mountain of grimm-corpses, as he sneaked over to the pedestal. He got a closer look at the relic — a pillar with a cross — before he stuffed it into his pouch without a second thought. 'Now let's get out of he-'
"Halt, you thief!"
"Freeze, asshole!"
Sieg frowned as he turned around to see sword and lance pointed his way. "Ah, grimm-shit."
The faunus-girl was the first to charge as she rocketed toward him, her lance hit the center against his thick greatshield. He briefly buckled under the hit, his body still sore, but he remained steady.
It took a moment for her to recognize him — or rather, it was the rectangular-shield blocking her entire view that clued her to his identity. "It's you! I'll bite you to death!" Without warning, her lance spun to life as it rotated ferociously, a high-pitched screech filled the air.
Sieg could feel his arms rattling. "THAT'S A FREAKING DRILL?!"
She roared at him, as though the action would grant her more strength; apparently it did, as she began to push him back. Sieg grunted and activated his semblance — the already sturdy greatshield suddenly increased in hardness, he pushed forward and steadily advanced. The reptililian-faunus struggled as her drilling-lance's rotation speed went from a raging screech to a cackling chip.
The dual-wielder wanted to be known as she jumped in and attacked the unprepared faunus on the side with a two-hit attack and sent them flying. With the resistance suddenly gone, Sieg over extended himself and gave the girl a great view of his exposed back. She immediately locked on and attacked him with a flurry of thrusts before he could react.
But the high-class girl was the one in for a surprise. Every hit almost felt like she was hitting the solid bone-armor of a Grimm.
Sieg let go of his greatshield and grabbed his ultra-greatsword with two hands and swung as fast as he could. The dual-wielder saw his moves from a mile a way — the large wind-up time made even the slowest of Grimm seem fast — and performed a back-flip to avoid it. She momentarily flinched as the blade just barely swiped passed her, she scowled when she realized that she had greatly underestimated the ridiculously-sized blade's reach. Sieg slashed again and she easily dodged that as well but his blade striking the ground made the floor shudder and groan.
"Ah, grimm-shit!" The structures of the ruins — such as the one he was currently fighting on — weren't exactly in prime condition; one wrong move and the whole thing could just collapse into the dark waters below.
Sieg reluctantly dropped his ultra-greatsword and then switched to a fist-fighting stance that were typical of street or bar brawlers.
He felt his head being suddenly stomped on as the faunus-girl suddenly returned with a wicked vengeance. She roared and pounced at the other girl, "Fuck off! This fucking bitch is mines!"
"You can have her!" he wanted to shout back.
But, Sieg was quickly dragged into the messy fight, and everything just went downhill from there.
[...]
All three of them were heavily out of stamina, deep panting filled the air as they gasped for breath. Their clothes were soaked with sweat and dirtied by all their rough-housing about. They had small cuts and bruises all over them — the sign of their long and violent struggle which had drained their protective aura.
Sieg was lying on the ground; courtesy of the reptilian-girl by way of a flying-knee. Other than the light lingering sensation of pain, his jaw was quite alright. He propped himself up on all four, rolled his shoulders, and then straightened himself as slowly he stood up. He gave the two girls an agitated glare before trying to trod off.
Key word being 'try'.
They didn't react well to being so casually dismissed nor did they approve of him still having the relic. The two of them immediately ganged up on him before he could even take more than three steps. The icy-haired high-class girl tightly caught onto his scarf with a menacing grip, while the faunus-girl leaped onto his back and attempted a headlock on him.
"You're not getting away!" they both said in unison, their hot-breath huffing and puffing in the front and back of his head.
"Can't you two just leave me alone already?!" Sieg angrily shouted.
The icy-haired girl stared him in the eyes, "Return... the relic to me... thief!"
He wanted to make a retort that he didn't steal anything but the faunus-girl increased the pressure of her choke. "That relic... is mine!" she hissed in his ear.
Sieg's face twitched. 'Screw them, I don't need to deal with this kind of shit.' Wordlessly, he started moving; it vaguely looked like he was wading through a swamp. He figured if he ignored them long enough then they would give up eventually.
"H-Hey!" the dual-wielder yelped and almost stumbled while she kept her grip on his scarf. "...Where do you think you're going?" He picked up his sword and shield and dragged them across the floor; he simply continued on his way. Because she did not get her answer, she would rather walk on her own two legs than to be lead around. She begrudgingly let go of his scarf.
The reptilian-girl wrapped her legs around him and once again strengthened the force of her choke as she tried to evoke a response from him. "Hey, don't go all quiet on us!"
Sieg kept his mouth shut and bore with it.
Perhaps that was not his best choice.
The faunus growled and took a bite out of his neck. He yelped in surprise before he automatically activated his semblance. Instantly, it was like she was trying to chew through solid stone with a roughness akin to sandpaper; she winced and stopped biting.
"You can't keep this up forever, Meatbag!"
He pulled his head back and hit her nose.
She screamed and tightened her squeeze. "You're fucking dead!"
Try as she might, the exhausted girl on his back didn't have much strength left to be any more than a nuisance.
[...]
"Hey, Hard Skinned Weirdo... we're lost, aren't we?"
'Hm? What was that?'
"Like seriously fucking lost."
'Where's it coming from?'
"I can't believe we're fucking lost, damn-it!"
'Shit. Can't hear over all her freaking complaining!'
He put a finger to his lips, turned around, and hushed them to be quiet.
The reptilian-girl, who had long since recovered her strength and started walking on her own, did not take too kindly to his gesture. "Don't try to shut me up!"
Sieg grimaced before he repeated his action. "Be quiet for a moment, will ya? Thought I heard something."
The icy-haired teen perked up her ears to listen and moved a hand toward the pommel of one of her swords. "...What exactly did you hear?"
The other girl sneered at them both. "What, you two scared of the big-bad monsters in the dark?"
She scoffed, "I know not the meaning of fear."
As the two females began to bicker, Sieg tuned the both of them out to searched for the sound again. He couldn't quite identify what he had heard but if he had to describe it then it would be something between 'skitter' and 'slither'. 'I'm getting the creeps just thinking about it... Hm?!' He quickly raised his hand, "Wait, there it is again!"
The urgency in his voice made them paused.
The dual-wielder nodded, "I heard it as well. Something is here."
The faunus-girl tucked her hands into the pocket of her hoodie, "...Well? Where's it coming from?"
"Can't tell, the echoes in the cave is bouncing it everywhere."
She snorted at him, "Useless. Alright, I'll find that damn monster for you."
Red-orange eyes peered into the shadows and the darkness peeled away in her gaze. However, she raised a brow when part of the darkness still remained, she blinked several times to clear up her sight but the darkness did not fade away. That was when she noticed the squirming. Her hand reached for her folded weapon as her head followed the massive shadowy trail. It stretched far beyond what she could follow; further in from where they had come and further in from where they were heading to.
"What'dya see?"
She didn't need to say, for it struck out from the shadows above.
Sieg's natural reaction was to jump at the forefront of where he expected the danger to come from and rely on his mighty greatshield to protect him. The shield did its job but that had only allowed the two large and powerful pincers to close around him before lifting him off his feet. With its target un-crushed and body still in one piece, it stopped, then raised the human up and thrashed its head about. Sieg expressed his fear in a very simple manner: he screamed. "FUUCCCKKK MMMMEEEEE!"
The faunus-girl and the dual-wielder were off to the side, as far as they could stand without going over the edge, because the Grimm's segmented body took much of the width of their path — the many skittering legs were too close for their comfort. They sort of watched in disbelief as the insectoid plowed through, the boy's screams growing ever distant, but then they remembered that he still had the relic.
The reptilian-girl cursed, unfolded her weapon, and activated its alternative mode. She jumped up high over the Grimm's body and then straight down. The drill seemed to cackle maniacally as it pinned the monster's trailing body and arrested its forward momentum. Soon enough the drill managed to gore through the black-carapace and into the floor as well.
Meanwhile, the high-class girl had run on ahead but could not catch up. She could see the boy struggling to get out but was otherwise safe from harm. Without warning, the Grimm screeched in horrifying pain and jolted straight, its movement stopped for whatever reason. She pulled out the longer of her two swords and gripped it with both hands, the complex array etched on its fuller shimmered before lightning surged through the blade. She kept on running, blade leveled horizontally from her chest, simply slicing through the many legs like a hot knife on butter as she made her way forward.
Sieg was sent flying when the centipede screeched. He considered it a stroke of luck, even when he hit the ceiling face-first and then down onto an arch back-first. He crumpled for a moment but quickly regained his bearing because the entire platform was rumbling beneath him. He could see the dual-wielder closing in — blade blue-hot — but considered the apparently now-stuck Grimm to be a higher priority on his list of things to deal with.
He tossed away his greatshield, two-handed his ultra-greatsword, charged toward the Grimm, then settled himself in a stance that clearly denoted an over-head swing.
"I've had enough of you!"
The blade grew thinner as the width snapped together to increase the length to twice its size, the vents on the crossguard opened up to hiss out hot steam, blazing red energy flared to life around the blade and doubled the reach of the already questionable sword.
He swung and cut the thrashing monster in half. The body went splat against the bridge before the cut-halves slid off the edge and dangled uselessly. However, his moment of reprieve and safety was cut short due to the continuing rumbling that should have stopped with the Grimm's demise.
"What's going on?!" Sieg shouted as he picked up his greatshield. The luminescent lights in front of him were rapidly disappearing and he could hear the constant splash of heavy objects dropping into the waters below. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me!"
The ruins was collapsing.
He ran for the exit; contrary to what the faunus-girl thought, they were very close to the entrance of the ruin that he had come from.
He could see the icy-haired girl ahead of him and the reptilian-girl far ahead of her. But, better yet, he could see the light of the end of the tunnel just ahead of them both. He continued running hard, even after crossing onto solid and stable ground, his worn feet pounded heavily with every stomp but the feeling of pain was long numbed. Soon he could run no more and collapsed onto the damp floor. His lungs demanded oxygen and he greedily sucked up the fresh sea-salted air that blew in from the cave-entrance that he was just so ever close to reaching.
Finally, every thing was over.
But not quite.
The icy-haired girl unsheathed her second sword; the sliding noise an ominous tone to the boy's ears.
"It's time that we decide on who shall be leaving with the relic."
The faunus paused before rolling her shoulders and chuckling, weapon at the ready. "Aahhh? Is that so? Well, fine, by me! I've got a score to settle with the both of you fuckers!"
Sieg palmed his entire face and groaned.
"...Why me?!"
The fight for the relic started anew.
Author Notes
This was unexpectedly long because I pretty much rewrote the entire chapter.
Also, how are you fine readers doing? Are you properly protected from the heat (that may or may exist depending where you live on this Earth)? Because I'm not.