Velvet's legs pounded against the earth, ripping up the ground as her legs hurled her swiftly through the dark trees around her. She had always been swift of foot. She was a rabbit, after all, though Velvet briefly thought about how little she cared about that right now. The biggest challenge she had faced her whole life had been growing up as a faunus, but that seemed so insignificant now. What they were facing now was so, so much worse.
She reached into a pouch on her belt as she flew across the uneven ground of the forest. She was thankful that her vision brightened the pitch black world around her; even the bright moon's beams were snuffed out by the dense foliage above her head. There was a crashing behind her, and Velvet frantically drew the phial of dust out of her hip pocket, uncapping it. She spun quickly, letting the dust fly out in an arc behind her, then splayed her hand. She felt her aura pulse as the dust ignited, creating a crescent of white hot fire in front of her.
Behind the light, Velvet caught a glimpse of her pursuer, a great, black and red mass of gnashing teeth and sharp claws. The Beowolf was only a few bounds behind her, its jaw open wide and spittle flying from it ravenous maw. It was so tall that, even on all fours, running, the top of her ears would barely come to the bottom of its chest. Its claws, a deep red as opposed to the usual white, glimmered almost of their own accord, sharped than the most wicked blades Velvet had seen at Beacon. The spikes on its back were red too, and crystalline, but Velvet hardly took notice. She was too scared to.
Without missing a beat, Velvet turned tail and continued running, knowing that her hunter would not be put off for long by her little present. She heard a howl of pain from the Beowolf and a loud cracking as wood was splintered behind her. She took no heed, continuing to sprint away.
She weaved through the trees, her lungs burning and her legs shaking from the lactic acid. She knew that it was coming to an end though. There was no way she could escape. Whatever that thing was, it was not a Beowolf. It looked a lot like a Beowolf, despite the red crystals, it sounded like a Beowolf, and it wanted to kill her like a Beowolf, but it was too strong and fast to be the species of Grimm that Velvet knew.
And it was going to kill her.
She felt sweat dripping down her brow. She had been sprinting for a long time now, ever since she had watched that beast's claws rip her team to shreds and four figures had watched silently from the shadows. She would have stayed to fight, but Coco's last words had been an order for her run and warn Beacon. Team CFVE had been betrayed, but that was the least of their worries.
Velvet had to warn them about the Pit. A cold shiver passed down her spine at the thought.
So Velvet had run, and she was still running. What had started off as a quarter mile lead had turned into nothing more than a few meters in the span of no more than two minutes. There was no way that Velvet could outrun it any longer, and if she tried to, she would die.
She reached into the last pocket on her belt that had a phial in it. It had been a present from Weiss Schnee on her graduation day, and Velvet had kept it safe, tucked away as a last resort. And this was a last resort.
She just hoped she had enough aura to survive.
She uncapped the phial, letting the burgundy gem slide out of the glass tube, holding it carefully in her hand. Velvet turned to see the Beowolf charging towards her, its glowing eyes boring into her. She thought she could see a glimmer of satisfaction, of victory, in its eyes. She hoped that the crystal would blow that glimmer right out of the beast's eyes. She tensed her aura as she squeezed her eyes shut, letting out just enough of it to activate the crystal.
As her aura touched the crystal, she felt the power throbbing deep within it. She withdrew immediately, terrified of how much energy was in there, but knew that it had already activated. She dropped the crystal as those massive white fangs descended towards her, poised to sink into her soft flesh.
There was an earsplitting crack and Velvet's world exploded. Her vision streaked white, and she flew backwards, her entire aura stripped away in the blast. Her shoulder connected with a tree, and something cracked, sending arcs of white hot pain rocketing through her entire body. The impact sent her spinning before she tumbled to the ground, rolling hard, over and over.
Then the world was eerily still, and Velvet didn't move as the ringing in her ears began to fade and the world began to take on some color. She was laying on her back, and each breath shocked electric pain through her body, from her shoulder down to her toes.
She rolled over her good shoulder, wincing as she felt disjointed bones grinding together in her back. She put her good hand on the ground, almost growling as she forced herself into a kneeling position. As she settled her knee into the ground, pain lanced through her, making her grit her teeth and squeeze her eyes shut. The pain wore off after a moment, fading to a dull, aching throb. Velvet stilled herself, calming her erratic breathing, inhaled deeply, and stood.
Dark spots flashed across her vision, and Velvet staggered to the side, unbalanced. She came to a stop when her shoulder crunched into a tree, and she let out a silent scream of pain, twisting away from the tree, falling back to the ground.
She lay with her legs tucked against her chest for a moment until the pain stopped wracking her body in uncontrollable waves of sharp heat. As it faded, Velvet rose again, keeping her breathing steady this time. She stumbled once, but caught herself, making sure not to move until she regained her balance.
The world came into focus again, and Velvet saw the deep, dark woods spanning on in all directions around her. She hugged her bad shoulder, probably broken, with her good hand as she turned in a slow circle. Behind her, she could see the corpse of the Grimm, half its face blown clean off along with a chunk of its shoulder. Its eyes had glazed over, and Velvet sighed in relief. It didn't begin to dissolve though, which Velvet thought was odd. She looked at it curiously. Smoke began to wisp off its body, but much more slowly than was typical of a Grimm. Velvet knew that that meant the beast was dead, so she turned her back on it.
She looked into the forest ahead of her, and took a deep breath. She had to get to Beacon. She had to warn them about their betrayal, but more importantly, she had to warn them about the Pit.
/
Hello again! So, I wrote the last two chapters together, but figured I'd split them into two separate ones and upload them at the same time. Even though they are a bit shorter, it's because they really here to get the ball moving for the next arc in the story.
Before I talk about that though, I'd like to thank all of you who are reading this. I've always struggled with motivating myself to write, and I don't think that without the support I get from those of you who follow and favourite I'd be able to keep writing. A special thanks to those of you who review; you guys are the ones that I actually feel I can interact with a little and give me an idea what I'm doing right and doing wrong. You make me a better writer, and the whole point is so that I can make something that others enjoy more. So thank you.
Now, that being said, I'm sure many of you have probably noticed that this story has been more of a lead up than anything. I don't feel its my best work, but its also not the part of the story that I felt most invested in, nor does it contain the most thematic significance. As in the chess game between Ozpin and Jaune, I'm just setting the pieces right now. But everything is set, and I'm ready to start moving things along in what I hope will be a much more exciting and powerful work.
So, there will be a brief break. I'm going to take a week or two to refine the plan I've made for the next few arcs, then I hope I can get a weekly posting schedule up and running. For those of you who are following this story, I will post an update letting you know when the next story is up, and for those of you who are following me as an author, look for The Pit coming soon!
Once again, thank you for reading, and especially at the end of a story, any ideas, thoughts, comments or suggestions are more than welcome! They really do help me make a better piece of writing for you to enjoy, so let me know! Hope you've all enjoyed the story so far, and I hope that if you're reading, you'll continue to enjoy it through its next chapter!
-Unjax