Big Issues
AN: Sorry for the delay but I've been busy with the holiday, family, and work. At the same time, I'd like to thank rodrigomartin2111 for the fave of this series and Scythal for the follow. We have another multi-chapter mini arc going on here since the contents are so big. Enjoy!
Throwdown- Round One
If there was one thing that Team RNNJR knew about being on the road, it was boredom. With Anima being such a large continent, there was plenty of space for villages to be set up wherever they felt they were safe enough to be established. According to their last guides and current maps, they were within a weeks journey of Mistral and they couldn't be happier about the final leg of the trip.
Yet once again, they found another town lost to time and Grimm. The weather reflected their mood at the fragility of civilization, overcast and dreary.
But with the dark clouds overhead and the sun close to setting, night was going to be setting in soon and they would have a decision to make; find a suitable structure in the town to spend the night or move on and hope they find a decent spot to set up camp before either nightfall or rain.
And they did what they always did when finding an abandoned village- look around for anyone still there. At least in this town, the buildings looked fairly sound which meant that they weren't too old. Some looked as though they had been under construction when everyone left.
"What happened here?" Ruby asks as the team met up by what used to be a fountain. Nora dropped to the ground after jumping from a roof, unintentionally testing the strength of the structures with her weight leaping from one roof to another when she was looking around.
Ren wiped his hand over the ledge of the fountain, brushing away the dirt to reveal deep scratches in the concrete. "What always happens."
"Grimm." That single word from Pyrrha had them all taking a moment of silence to reflect on why they trained so hard, why they were on this mission, how many lives they had saved during their travels, how many may have been lost because they couldn't be everywhere at once, but most of all- a flash of sadness for everyone who had called this place home and lost everything.
"We should keep moving." Ren may have worded that as a suggestion but the tome was more as an order. Ruby, Jaune, and Pyrrha glanced at each other with slight confusion about his behavior, contrasting with Nora stepping close and guiding him towards the nearest gate/hole in the wall with a hand on his shoulder.
Wordlessly, the other three followed the pair, taking a few more looks around the ruins as they did.
Yet while Ren may have been in a hurry to leave the town, that didn't mean that his senses were dulled. He paused, to the confusion of his friends and held up a fist so they'd be quiet as he closed his eyes to focus.
While the team silently stood in place and looked around for danger, the ninja could hear the faint sounds of someone running fast. And through his Semblance, he could feel strong emotions emanating from that person; anticipation, joy, and bloodlust being primary.
"Get ready." He warns the team, taking Stormflower from the clips on his legs as he tried to keep track of the presence but it was starting to move erratically. All around him, he could hear the various weapons being deployed.
Then from a nearby two story building, a man leapt over the roof as if he'd been shot out of a cannon. The team watched as the man twisted in his flight so that he landed on his feet just a few paces away, having gone over their heads.
The man let out a small grunt at the impact to his legs that turned into a giggle of sorts. But it was his arms snapping out behind him and the familiar sounds of shifting mechanics that put them on high alert.
That was well founded when he raised his head to reveal wild eyes and a matching grin on his thin face. Then he came at them in a burst of speed that almost left them stunned.
Ren was the closest and first to be targeted. The pair collided in a clash of blades, the underslung green blades against paired pincer-like steel strapped to the man's forearms. Every attack with their paired weapons were met with the others, turning the skirmish into a ground game of kicks, balance, and foot placement.
A game that Ren quickly found himself losing and within five seconds, was punted away to the other side of the street.
Jaune and Pyrrha closed in on the man together with their shields raised and ready to plow over their target. They were nearly on top of him when he leapt up to land on Pyrrha's, only to lean and kick off immediately, forcing her to stagger away from the blonde knight. From there, the man grabbed onto Jaune's shield with his hands on the upper edges as his feet found their grip on the white surface near the bottom tip.
It was a testament to the blondes strength that he held the man on his shield without strain but that was ruined by the man leaning over the metal barrier and putting his face uncomfortably close to the knights. The loud "Oooo!" From him, sounding like a child who just found a new toy that caught their interest, really set everyone else on edge.
Jaune responded by giving his left arm a quick shake to dislodge his attacker and slashed at him with his right. But the sword missed as the man stepped back just enough to let the blade pass by his stomach. Yet he had to deal with the heavy Spartan right behind him who was already in mid swing at his back.
Somehow, the man jumped and flipped over Pyrrha and struck out at her with his pincers, only to find her own shield intercepting the attacks. Her left heel came down in a stomp aimed at his right foot, missing as he spun and drove his left knee into her elbow, the limb managing to move in time to protect her ribs from the hit.
But that hit was enough to turn her, his pincers coming down from either side at once, and being blocked by the edges of blade and shield just in time. There was a short test of strength but Pyrrha was already in a bad position to push, a fact that the man capitalized on as he drove his boot into her stomach that sent her tumbling away.
The man was challenged by Ruby next, the girl coming at him with her scythe ready to swing, only for her target to meet her halfway and she had to stop and block his weapons with the shaft of her own. They pushed off at the same time to separate and Ruby used that as an opportunity to get Crescent Rose swinging, the large blade making for an intimidating obstacle.
One that the man had no fear of as he dove right in as he ducked, bobbed, wove, and sidestepped every swing before going on the offensive himself. The shaft of the scythe only offered so much protection and one particularly hard slicing backhand from the man tore the weapon from her grip and smacked its owner in the face and chest, sending the rotund reaper to the stone street in a slight daze.
Nora didn't fare any better. Despite attacking the man from behind, she still missed with every swing of her hammer, and he didn't even bother to attack himself. After a failed attack brought the head of Magnhild down low, the man stepped on it. Nora angrily lifted both surprisingly quickly and the man jumped. Not only did he send her weapon back to the ground, nearly dragging Nora down after it, but it allowed him to soar up to a third story wall and break through the already crumbling infrastructure.
The team regathered their wits and moved close, not wanting to risk getting separated with him around. And they watched as the dust from the collapsed wall settled to find the man striking a seemingly dramatic pose within the hole.
"Who are you?" Ruby shouts up to him, confused and annoyed at the sudden attack. That sentiment was shared by the rest of the team, though they lacked the touch of looking for a spot of good in their opponent.
"We're not looking for a fight!" Jaune yells, keeping his shield raised as he stays in the front of the group, Pyrrha stepping up next to him with her own shield ready.
The man barely looked down from his perch before jumping down and performing several flips until he landed easily on his feet just a few paces in front of the group of teens. Slowly, he stood up and they could get a good look at their attacker.
He stood tall, slightly more than Jaune and Pyrrha, but he was also rather lanky making him look even taller. He is a pale man with a long, thin face and his dark brown hair pulled back into a long braid with some bangs hanging down towards his yellow eyes. His ears are pierced, a silver loop on each earlobe with a third on his left upper ear. The man wears a brown duster jacket that has a strap holding it closed… sort of; it left his chest exposed where a white shirt could be seen that exposed his scarred skin of his chest and abs. He wore white pants and dark brown leather boots that reached his knees with pads. On his arms, some tan bandages could be seen under the rolled up sleeves of the jacket but those disappeared under a pair of leather vambraces on his lower arms that held the blades that he had attacked them with, along with some other mechanisms they couldn't identify at a glance. There was also a very thick black belt around his waist.
Yet there was something that they all noticed about him. One, he had fought each of them and easily beat them in those quick exchanges. Two, he was highly erratic. Third and most disturbingly, he was laughing the entire time he fought, in a way that set them all on edge and they were sure that he wasn't exactly the most mentally stable person.
"Why, who I am does not matter to you." He points at Ren and moves his finger to his right. "Or you. Or you." He dismissed Pyrrha and Nora in turn but paused at Jaune. "Or… well, you do interest me."
"What?" The blonde asks quietly, understandably confused and creeped out. Pyrrha narrowed her eyes and slightly shifted closer to the knight.
"No,I only matter, to you." He points directly at Ruby in the back of the group.
"Me?" Ruby asks with a small squeak of surprise.
That seemed to send the man into a laughing fit, like there was a really good joke that only he knew, enough to have him doubling over and holding himself up by pushing on his knees. "Ha! Oh! You haven't slightest clue, do you? Oh! How exciting!" He finished with a stage shocked expression, complete with a hand on his head.
"What do you want?" Ruby asks with an edge to her tone that was rarely used.
"Oh? The rose has thorns!" The man declares, holding his hands out to the side, still acting as if he were in a play. "My little flower, I'm here to whisk you away with me." He punctuates that with a wave of his hand and a smile that was just… off.
"What if she doesn't want to go with you?" Nora asks, her tone promising pain if she didn't get a satisfying answer. She tightened her grip on Magnhild and stepping a bit closer to Ruby and made it clear that she would fight.
That left the man to make an odd face, rather like he had eaten something a little bitter and disappointed at what he was hearing and seeing, before that slipped to a slight smile as he gave his answer as easily as commenting on the weather. "Well, I'll take her."
Jaune took a step closer with his shield raised, Pyrrha doing the same next to him. The two armored warriors make for a formidable wall between Ruby and her pursuer with Ren and Nora behind them ready to flank. "We're not going to let you do that."
The man simply closed his eyes and took a deep breath as if he wanted that kind of response and savored it. "Good." His grin turned cruel in anticipation of the fight and causing pain.
That was their only warning before he practically vanished in a burst of speed, only to reappear behind Jaune with his blades ready again and arm reared back to attack the blonde from behind.
"Jaune!" Ren and Pyrrha shout, the ninja instantly firing at their attacker as the knight ducked down with his shield over his head to get out of the crossfire. Some of the bullets ricocheted off the white and gold barrier as the man leaned back to avoid the spray. Pyrrha charged him while he was distracted but passed through where the man was thanks to him jumping up for a handstand on the shield.
Ren released the triggers and rushed the man, but was kicked away as he used the blades as a pivot to spin himself on the shield in a form of demented breakdancing, the continuous cackling keeping them on edge as much as the fight itself. Ruby dashed around and slashed her massive cutting edge at his arm, only to hit nothing but air and the madman having pushed off, landed close by and kept the momentum going from the earlier spins to deliver a roundhouse kick to her back.
The soft flesh did little to lessen the blow as she was sent tumbling across the stone street a fair distance, not as far as Ren but she did roll to a stop eventually like a flat tire. She was quick to get back on her feet and plant her sniper scythe in a firing position and aimed at their attacker. Nearby, Ren was moving to find a new attack vector.
With the weight of the man off his shield, Jaune was able to stand easily, swiping his sword at his chest as he rose, missing as the man leaned back. Somehow, he was able to jump from that awkward position and kick Jaune across the face, stunning him. That was followed by a powerful thrust of the leg into Jaune's chest that sent him to the ground with the sound of clanging and scraping armor.
Pyrrha dove back into the fight, jumping at the man as he recovered from the kick with her sword ready to stab him. Closing the distance, she flipped the switch to extend Milo into its javelin form as she thrust forward. The man wasn't particularly surprised by the attack, moving just out of the way of the sharp business end of the weapon and bringing his own weapon up at her.
Pyrrha was able to block his right arm with her shield, even converting Milo back into its xyphos form in the process and slashing at his head. But the man interrupted that attack with his left arm driving the blades into her stomach, the only things preventing her from being gutted right there being her aura and armor. And just because she had some layers of leather and metal over her soft stomach, that didn't stop the blow from driving the air from her lungs as the armor was pushed into her.
Her sword passed over his head as she gasped, yet still had the reflexes to block his bladed arms from hitting her several times with her shield and sword, one attack being deflected by the brace on her sword arm. The man dropped into a spin as he swept her legs out with his own then spun once again that lifted his right leg high before bringing it down on the Spartan. The boot hit the circular shield with a clang, and whatever surprise the man had at Pyrrha doing as well as she was so far, that was lost as his grin grew wider.
With another wild laugh, his free leg kicked up to catch the barrier from underneath and with his other leg still on top, he had a tenuous grip on the metal. From there, he heaved his legs up, pulling her arm and by extension, Pyrrha herself, he took her by surprise at lifting her briefly before slamming her back to the ground. The air was driven from her lungs again from the unexpected move, along with his legs pushing onto her.
The madman flipped up onto his feet using the momentum from dropping her and quickly kicked her in the ribs, making her glad for armor and fat over the bones protecting her lungs. Pyrrha tumbled across the stone like how much of her team had already done during this fight.
Actually, it wouldn't be fair to call this a fight, not with the way they were having their large rears handed to them. This was a beating, pure and simple. They were almost completely at the mercy of the crazy man who looked as though mercy was a concept he never knew. The only reason that he had yet to kill them at this point was because he wanted to see them struggle for their survival.
The man made a dash for Nora, who had hung back because she didn't want to risk hitting her teammates, her retaliatory swing of her hammer missing as he flipped over her so he could kick her in the back as soon as he landed. The girl was quick to roll to her feet and attack again, using tighter swings and even using a few jabs with the handle to mix things up but found herself missing once again. He crossed his arms and charged, catching the handle that was raised to block the scissor attack and pushed back hard, adding a pump kick to the stomach to drive her away.
Nora stopped near a curb and was slower to rise this time, breathing deep to steady herself. She looked up in time to see that the madman was coming at her again, with the look of wanting to finish her off this time.
Bang! Bang!
The pair of gunshots made the man stop his charge. One of which had whizzed by just behind him, only to hit his target's weapon head and kicking it out from her using it as a crutch to stand.
"Oof!" The girl landed in a heap.
The other he actually flinched away from, the bullet taking a small lock of hair with it as it barely missed his cheek.
Seeing how the hammer girl fell as a result, even getting a zap from the Dust round that had been used in the attempt to hit him, he couldn't help but laugh at the situation. He didn't miss that the bullet that nearly hit his head had been laced with Fire Dust and struck a house to leave a burning hole in the masonry.
"Hahaha, now isn't that ironic." He wiped a fake tear from his eye as he turned to face those who had shot at him. Ruby and Pyrrha were aiming their rifles at him. While the latter seemed to be slightly miffed that she had missed, it was curious as to why she wasn't taking more shots at him despite keeping him in her sights. The former though, had pulled her eye from the scope with a satisfied grin, like she knew something that he didn't. Even the boys had moved so the ninja was by the Spartan girl and the Knight with the Reaper.
"What?" He asks as a whisper, his eyes flicking from one target to the next as he tries to figure out what they are waiting for. They may be ready to keep fighting but they knew something, setting off alarms in his head.
Then Nora was suddenly behind him with pick electricity coursing over her body and her hammer in full swing and already having rotated her entire body once to build momentum by the time that he looked back at the young dynamo.
And the hammer came down hard enough to blow the dust and dirt away from the point of impact for several feet around it. The rest of the team covered their eyes from the brief sandstorm that was whipped up, relaxing a bit as the dust began to settle.
Then something seemed off. For one, Nora wasn't already celebrating her victory after a hit like that as there were few who could withstand such a hit. Secondly, there were no groans of pain from the enemy; they were used to that even from those who had been knocked out by the short girl. And as the dust began to settle, they began to see why.
"Surprise!" The man was hunched over so that his hands were braced on the ground… and he was grinning and laughing. He had never been hit by the hammer at all!
To be accurate, he had been hit, but it was how he had been hit that threw them all for a loop. Specifically, it was a tail that had intercepted the hammer. A scorpion tail, complete with a very large stinger. And it was stronger than it looked as it had supported the weight of the hammer, its wielders weight, and the combined momentum and force.
"Hahaha!" With a push, his tail threw the metal to the side as the man stunned Nora with a kick to the head followed by a spinning roundhouse to the cheek that sent the girl tumbling away, losing grip on her weapon in the fall.
From there, the man jumped to the roof of the building they were in front of, undoing the catch on his jacket to allow it to be stripped off as he flipped. By the time he landed, the jacket was fluttering away in the wind. On the roof, he posed standing tall and proud as his tail swished behind him.
"He's… a Faunus." Ren was just as surprised as the rest of the team.
Ruby wasn't quite so much surprised as she was confused. "What is this about? The White Fang? Roman Torchwick?" She shouts at the man.
"Plastic soldiers and pawns!" He declares with a dismissive wave of his hand. "My heart and body only belong to our Goddess!" He began that line with a bow before standing straight and raising his arms up and over his head as he looks up… reminding the teens of the occasional religious zealots in Vale.
"Cinder." Ruby nearly growled but apparently said it loud enough for the faunus to hear from his perch.
"Only in her wildest dreams!" The man yells as he let his arms swing behind him as he crouches to lean towards the ground. From there, he jumped as if he'd shot from a canon to land between their loose grouping in a flash of movement.
Ruby barely had time to raise her scythe to block a swipe of his tail and a pair of slashes from his arms, only to be hit with a pair of kicks in quick succession that sent her tumbling away once again.
Ren was the next to be targeted, this time being forced to dodge the stinger aiming for his face several times. Jaune came at the faunus from the side but was knocked back by a kick to the shield, long enough for the man to turn his legs on Ren and punt the ninja away. Pyrrha shot at him as she closed in, only for the tail to bat the bullets away with ease.
The man turned his blades on the Spartan, being intercepted by her shield and sword at every turn. Clearly having learned from their earlier bouts, she was responding to his wild and erratic attacks with five limbs surprisingly well; her experience with fighting against multiple opponents at once paying off.
Jaune got back to his feet and joined the fray as Nora hung back again. Ruby did the same though took a more active approach to that, climbing up to the roof of a house so she could have a different angle. Through her scope, she couldn't get a clear shot with Jaune and Pyrrha moving so much around the scorpion but she settled to wait them out.
The two on one fight went as well as expected given the earlier results with the fighters. Eventually Jaune was tripped by the tail and given a bladed uppercut to the chest armor that lifted him clear off the ground, as Pyrrha had been pushed back by the other arm and the stinger snaking its way around her shield and looking for a soft spot to stab. The blonde was kicked away by a boot to the stomach where the armor didn't cover so the faunus could focus on the Spartan.
As soon as Jaune was kicked away, Nora dashed in with hopes of Pyrrha distracting the psycho. Yet as fast as she came in swinging, the scorpion seemed to have eyes on the back of his head and jumped onto Pyrrha's shield and hung on. The move not only allowed him to dodge the hammer but his own sudden weight on her arm pulled the Invincible Girl down so that once the man hit the ground, he kicked up into her stomach to send her flying until she landed hard on the stone.
Nora was unable to do much after that, not with as fast and nimble as he was. Her next swing found him stepping on the head to push it down, and by extension, Nora along with it. From there, he gave her a rapid series of kicks that had her falling on the stones like her friends.
The man stopped and looked around at his handiwork, relishing in the pain that the teens were experiencing. Hunched over, his deep breathing wasn't from the exertion of combat but from savoring it and winning, to watch as his opponents try their best and fail by his hand.
The one in green was on his feet, helping the hammer girl up. The redhead was paired up with the blonde as they made their way to the others. Which left…
His tail slapped a high caliber bullet from its path at his head. There was a pause, no doubt one from surprise since he wasn't even facing the shooter.
Then several more shots rang out, more for speed while aiming at anywhere on his body. And every bullet was slapped away like the first until a click was heard from an empty cartridge.
He turned to see the rotund Reaper on the roof and grinned. "She only said I had to bring her back alive!" He cackles as he sprints towards her with his weapons and stinger ready to draw blood.
Seeing the man targeting her, Ruby decided to meet him halfway as she ran down the roof to build up speed even quicker, reloading as she went with practiced ease. Yet for as fast as she was, he was faster and had leapt at her just as she was jumping.
A quick shot downward lifted her just enough for the stinger to miss her leg as they passed midair. The dodge irritated the scorpion as much as it entertained him.
"It's no fun if my prey doesn't fight back!" He laughs as he lands on the roof and immediately jumps backwards to follow the red cloak.
Ruby was able to land on the stone easily enough but by the time she turned around, her attacker was nearly upon her again, causing her to roll backwards as his blades sliced the air where her arm had been a second earlier.
Ruby rose to her feet and the man was in her face yet again with blades swinging at her, barely managing to raise her own weapon in defense. At least until a foot rose after a strike lifted her scythe and sank into her stomach hard enough to lose contact with the ground. From there, the scorpion laughed as he kicked her down the street, not only driving the air from her lungs and making her feel like she'd vomit, but the blow also threw her away from her team. Losing her grip on Crescent Rose didn't help.
Jaune and Pyrrha were quick to try to close the distance to their friend but they were no match for the man as he became a blur that stopped where Ruby's arc would end and with a laugh, he spun and drove his heel into the falling girls soft belly.
Nobody noticed as the man's yellow eyes turned purple during that final strike but Ruby definitely noticed that her battered aura was essentially nonexistent where he made contact.
But the full weight of a three hundred pound girl flying into a boot moving fast in the opposite direction forced the much larger but softer object to fold over the smaller one before physics made the larger object rebound.
Ruby landed a short distance away from the scorpion, groaning in pain as she tried to breathe and hold down her lunch at the same time. Behind her, the armored warriors were in a full sprint to help.
And the man only needed a few casual steps to reach her, grinning widely and loving the pain she was in as his stinger rose over his shoulder.
"And now, Little Rose, I'll make sure that you are well prepared for my Queen." The tail twitched in anticipation. "Oh, and I must thank you for being a thorn in Cinder's side for so long, it really is a delight to see her smug face ruined."
As Ruby's eyes widened at what he said, the tail lurched at her prone form.
—-
Oscar was beginning to miss the man after he left that morning. His aunt had ensured that he had eaten a large breakfast and the other farmhands had thrown a quick party the night before.
But the man was now gone and it couldn't have happened at a worse time.
Things at the farm continued as expected without the man, but with a bit less to do, there wasn't too much of a loss besides the company. Then Grimm attacked.
There weren't too many that the farmers couldn't hold them off but at some point a lantern had been knocked over and started a fire. Obviously, that made the men split their attention between the two dangers where they had to save the barn and the contents as fast as possible, not to mention the livestock inside.
Men were lost in the confusion, the flames and beasts taking their toll as panic rose. His aunt called for the local Huntsman and neighbors for help, but they needed time to arrive. The flames could be seen from the nearby town, especially once the fields began to burn; the only good part of that was that the fields took some Grimm with them in the inferno.
Then the house caught fire, the last real fallback position for the farmers and where some were receiving medical care from the fighting. The increasing fear and panic drew more Grimm and as ammunition ran low, they began using anything as a weapon. Axes, shovels, and other tools worked well enough but the men grew exhausted quickly as they were backed between flames and the dark beasts.
Even the young boy wound up fighting, taking the poker from the fireplace to stab and hit a Grimm as it tried to climb through a window, his efforts being successful for that time and the next. The third to try found its face filled with buckshot thanks to his aunt.
But the Grimm kept coming, for every beast killed, another would take its place.
They had to fight their way out the door and off the porch, down to only a handful of people.
"He's back!" One of the men yells as the wanderer returned, a broken handle of a shovel as his weapon to take on Grimm and winning. His return and success gave the other men a second wind, their attacks against the beasts of Darkness renewed in intensity.
"It's a good thing I didn't get very far! I had to stop and ask for directions!" He was almost laughing as he smacked a Beowolf in the head so that it ran into a burning wall.
"Good for you! Now keep fighting so I might be able to salvage something from my farm!"
Another Beowolf jumped at Oscar and his world went black as the screams went silent.
—-
If there was one thing that Qrow hated most, it would be his Semblance. Misfortune couldn't be controlled or focused, it didn't discriminate between friends, family, or enemies, and there was no way of warning that it was going to kick in.
His time at Beacon was a test in itself, so many things breaking or happening around him. His Semblance put his friendship with his team to the test at times while sometimes being humorous, like a sparing opponent suddenly slipping on sweat or mud to dropping their weapon.
Other times… he didn't think his sister ever forgave him when the clasp of her skirt broke and the garment fell in front of Taiyang just as she was bending over to pick up something. Couldn't prove it was him and it didn't matter that she had fought in that skirt more than a few times to put wear in it but with him nearby…
And it's not like Tai didn't enjoy the view while it lasted and Summer certainly didn't hold back her laughter until she had to stop Raven from pummeling the boys too badly.
But his Misfortune was the primary reason he worked alone. The stint at Signal was mostly to help his family get by, despite the additional strain of him being near them. He'd still make time to help out the girls with anything they asked… within reason, along with his brother in law, but he'd keep his distance for their sake and his own, letting Misfortune only to mess with him and his enemies, when he could help it.
And Misfortune was definitely hitting him as he had to deal with a massive pack of Beowolves. During the fight, he spotted someone he knew wasn't supposed to be around here. In fact, the man was supposed to be dead after he disappeared years ago at the end of a trail of dead bodies and teams of Huntsmen on his tail who reported giving him intense injuries.
He just had to deal with the Grimm before he dealt with the man going after the team of teens, not wanting to leave any behind to accidentally lead them to the team while fighting that man.
With the last of the Grimm dead and fading into smoke, the wind whipped past his face as he made his way as fast as possible down the hill, through the trees, and into the ruined town. He could only hope that Misfortune wouldn't make him too late.
—-
"You know, I'm pretty sure that this is more of a formality than a real test." Scarlet Barkley told Yang as they walked. The man is tall, probably taller than Yatsuhashi and Junior, with red hair and a matching dog tail. He typically wore clothes that were of some shade of red or brown, today being brown boots and pants that had large red guards on the knees, a red leather belt with several pouches on it, a red flannel shirt with a brownish-red leather vest over it. Black gloves adorned his hands with steel plates on the back, painted red.
On his back, he carried a large quiver of arrows with a bow in its travel configuration attached to it, held by a pair of leather straps over his shoulders, the left having a leather shoulder guard attached to it.
Scarlet Barkley also happened to be the Captain of the Watch on Patch. He'd held the position for over a decade so he'd seen just about everything that could be a threat to the island community during that time, not to mention the time of climbing the ranks to get there. During Yang's time at Signal, he would often serve as a substitute teacher or be brought in to help with ensuring that the students of the Huntsman classes would know the dangers of the job.
"Maybe but if it gets Dad off my back about 'being ready to fight', I'll do just about anything." The tubby blonde grumbled as she hiked next to the much taller man. Keeping up with him before the weight was hard enough; the man's strides were equal to the average persons two.
"Any idea who you'll be fighting against later today?"
"Nope. If it's not you and it's not Iris, and I know Dad won't be having Denko fight me… dunno who he had gotten for that test."
"Hmmm…. Alright then. Just so you know, I've got your back if you take out this pack as easily as you used to."
"Even with all this?" The blonde asks as she uses both hands to shake her belly, not that it needed help as she walked on the trail.
Yang had forgone her jacket, mostly because the sleeves would interfere with Hiryu Shoten, leaving her in the usual orange tank top that did little to cover her belly. But she did manage to squeeze into the supportive girdle that she had from Beacon, even if the soft flesh was doing its best to push through the window in the front.
That left her with her usual brown pants and belt, with a pouch for ammunition in the back, and a pair of boots to offer ankle support. She had elected to keep her hair up in a ponytail, partly because she had gotten used to the style, partly for the same reason she didn't wear sleeves.
"How long until we reach that pack, Cliff?"
"Any minute now." He responds, slightly grumbling at the nickname. Everyone at some point said that talking to him was like looking up a cliff because of his height… so Cliff stuck. Big Red didn't work for long, nor did Red Dog. So he had to deal with Cliff.
Two minutes of hiking and they came across a small clearing that was full of Beowolves, complete with an Alpha, numbering at least thirty.
Keeping his voice and head low, Scarlet explained things once more. "Okay, we're here. There seem to be a few more than my scouts found but nothing too bad unless that Alpha really gets involved. I'll be recording the fight as you go in. The only fighting I'll be doing is to take out any Grimm that gets close to me and if I see you struggling out there."
"Used to take out packs like this before. Did it before Beacon, I'll do it now." Yang comments as she stretches and double checks her weapons.
"Right. Just keep a cool head out there and fight smart."
"Got it." With the last checks and preps done, the recovered brawler sneaks away to get as close to the pack as possible without their notice.
A particularly thick tree served as cover for Yang as she waited for a small Grimm to pass, stepping out quickly and breaking its neck with a twist. Another wound up suplexed onto a rock, her weight coming in handy for the force in addition to her strength. She climbed a tree in order to drop her boot on a neck… there wasn't much to say about how much force a girl her size could put out from a drop.
The real challenge began when the rest of the pack took notice of her. It may have something to do with the next Grimm in her arms struggling to get free of her grip.
"Oh! Is this yours?" The blonde quips before applying more force through her bear hug, the sounds of its rib cage cracking filled the silent clearing. Yang opened her arms to let the Grimm free, only to watch as it collapsed to the ground and let out a few growls and whimpers, the body going slack and smoking a few moments later. "Oops."
And that was the signal for the Alpha to howl and the remaining pack charged.
And Cliff let the small drone fly over the fighting and watching from a slightly closer position. He only had to deal with three Grimm himself.
As for said drone, it was broadcasting the video back to Signal where they could watch the test live.
Among those watching were Team DAIT… three of them anyway. The death by hugging made more than a few eyes turn to the blonde, his relationship with the one undergoing the test known to all.
"What?"
"Just what are you made of to be willing to be hugged by her often!?" Talon nearly yelled, much to his embarrassment. A few chuckles could be heard in the room from others watching the test and getting another free show as a result.
"I'm just as human as you are. Yang doesn't squeeze that hard often."
"Often?" Anya asks quietly.
"We've done a lot of work. I know what she can do." He tried not to blush but failed miserably. The sisters were close enough to him in the dark room that they could see his red face by the light of the video projection.
"What she can do, huh? And how much of that exercise wasn't combat related?" Talon was grinning widely.
Somehow, his face turned redder as he looked away to focus his eyes on the screen. "Sh-Shut up!"
That reaction just made the girls descend into giggles, now waiting to get both blondes together to ask them about that 'training'.
Back to Yang… she wasn't having trouble despite the numbers disadvantage. She'd let them come to her and slide out of their way, choosing precise moments to counterattack the Grimm.
Sidestep and a Fire Dust buckshot elbow strike to the ribs. Step into their reach and throw one Grimm into another. Trip and punch down into their head.
When they seemed to learn to not attack her, she went on the attack. A crouch to bring Ember Celica to the ground and firing both as she jumped gave her the boost to bypass their front lines and drop her full weight onto a hapless victim. Four charged her from different angles only for four barrels to be pointed at them and firing. Only one may have been killed outright from that but the others were now open for her to dash in and finish them off with a punch to the head or chest with another shell discharged into each.
The pattern continued between attack and defense, what few hits the Beowolves got on her, her aura withstood easily and they were put down quickly. At least until it was just Yang, the Alpha, and five larger Beowolves that had stuck close to their leader.
"Just us now, eh boys?" Yang casually comments as she takes the opportunity to get a few deep breaths to revitalize herself from the combat thus far. The Grimm settled for watching her, studying their foe who had decimated their pack.
Four belts of shotgun shells were tossed into the air as the shotguns they were meant for opened and expelled the last belt from each and their owner swung her arms into the paths of the fresh belts. The weapons now reloaded, the belts were locked in place and the first shells moved into the chambers.
"Ready or not, here I come!" Yang declares with a smile as she ran at the Grimm.
The Alpha growls and two of its underlings charged to meet the human halfway. The first jumped high, clear over the blonde to land behind her. The other dove headfirst as she was looking up with its jaws open wide and claws ready to grasp.
Only for that Beowolf to get a metal fist rammed into its throat, the gauntlet covering that arm tearing the softer inners of its mouth on the way. It only had time for its eyes to widen in surprise before the girl gripped its head with her other hand and used her leverage to smash her new 'toy' into its partner.
The Grimm that she had hit whined under its brethren before it was lifted off… only for the Grimm to be slammed back onto it.
Yang grinned as she prepared to fire Ember Celica within the Grimm until she saw two more coming at her from behind. Altering her plan slightly, the blonde leapt over the heap of Grimm, the one with her right hand inside acting as a pivot and gagging as she moved and dragged it around. The new pair stopped short of colliding with each other where the human had been standing and glared at her over the fallen members of the pack.
"Huff and puff all you like but you ain't blowing me down. But I sure can blow you away!" Yang quipped before the Explosive Dust shell erupted within her captive. The Grimm didn't stand a chance, being blown to pieces that were trailing the usual black smoke as they flew. The one underneath was driven into the ground by the blast and pieces, its back being burnt and cut from the bone projectiles. The other two didn't fare any better, being hit with the blast as well but both received bone spikes from the victim into their chests and thrown to the ground.
"Told ya." Yang nearly sang as she stepped through the cloud of dust, stomping on the injured in the crater to put it out of its misery. The other two writhed on the ground in pain until a pair of shots from Hiryu Shoten took them out.
And then there were three left, Yang, the Alpha, and its last pack member.
The big wolf roared in her face, blowing her hair back but little else, the growling from the other Grimm seeming cute in comparison. In response, Yang let out her own roar as she let Burn flash for a moment for the intimidation factor of flames bursting from her body.
And the final fight began, the Alpha using its sheer size and reach to its advantage and slammed its paw down on the human, only for her right arm to block the attack with ease, the only effects being the jiggles in her soft body and her boots sinking an inch into the ground. The smaller Grimm dashed to the side and came back to flank her on the occupied side as the other paw of the Alpha swept from her left.
Yang caught the black furred wrist before the claws could reach her with her left hand and saw the other Grimm jumping at her from behind on her right side where she couldn't shoot it and she was too occupied to attack it in any other way.
So she didn't.
She pushed off the paws and dove away from the smaller Grimm, allowing it to miss her and get hit by the empty claws of its boss instead. The Grimm wasn't hurt badly but she was now on her back between the legs of the Alpha… that was growling down at her even angrier than before.
"Oops?" Yang laughs before raising a leg quickly, kicking the Grimm between the legs and the shock made it go stiff and fall on its face with a loud whine. "Didn't think that would work." Yang brushes her hands off as she stands up, only to find the other Grimm ready for her. She managed to raise her arms to take its claws on the golden metal, the attack throwing the hefty girl over the Alpha where she rolled out of the landing with a jiggle.
"Not bad, Little Wolf, but Big Bad here got you beat by a wide margin." Yang gestures at the rising Alpha. Needless to say, neither Grimm appreciated that the human was still alive and making jokes.
The smaller Grimm charged around its leader and its target jumped up on its back with her fists pressed into the fur. A moment of realization was all it had before twin explosive rounds ripped it to shreds and propelled the girl up at the Alpha. The remaining Grimm swung at her from both sides, only for Yang to fire Hiryu Shoten to change her trajectory and help her flip through the air until she reached its head and grabbed the ears.
From there, she used her momentum and close to four hundred pound body to yank the Beowolf backwards. The Grimm letting out a roar of pain as she let one out of exertion, until its head made contact with the ground with its back arched over the girl, until the body followed its head so that it was now right side up and dizzily rising to its four feet once she let go.
From there, Yang pressed her advantage and went to town on the Grimm with punches to its face and chest that kept it from recovering its wits. A kick to the chin lifted its head from near the ground and snapped it up where Yang pulled back both fists and threw them forward as one, letting Ember Celica fire on contact where the explosive shells erupted across its face.
Bony mask shattered but the Grimm remained alive, roaring in pain and blinded. Wild swings of its claws were dodged until Ember Celica shot another explosive at the Alpha's feet, taking it off balance. From there, Yang gave its broken face a right uppercut followed by the left Hiryu Shoten firing into its exposed throat.
That final shot brought the beast down at last, collapsing with a gurgle before the telltale smoke of a Grimm's death began to rise from the body.
"About time." Yang scoffs as she dusts her hands off on her pants and collapses her weapons into bracelets on her wrists and arms.
The drone hovered around her as Cliff took his time walking up with a proud smile on his face. "Not bad kid. Did better than I thought you would, especially with how I used to see you fight."
"Thanks, now it's time for round two?"
"You'll get a bit of a break once we get back before your match. Get some rest, maybe a light snack and drink. Relax with your friends."
"Yeah, I get it. Let's get going." The blonde shakes her head with a smile as they start walking back to town, taking the straightest route this time. She remembered how things had been yesterday.
"What do you mean you have to go?" The heavy blonde questions her boyfriend.
"Yang… it's a mission that we've been expecting for over a year now. It just happens to be now that we're being sent on it." Denko wasn't any happier about having to leave.
"If it's been so long, why you?"
"Because we are the ones who know what needs to be known the most about the mission." Anya scoffs from her place leaning on the wall.
"And we have experience with the type of person we are looking for." Talon shrugs as she leans against a counter.
"Really?" Yang asks, getting a nod from Denko. "And you have to go right away?"
"Eh… hard to say about how fast we should start, it's been over a decade since the person we're supposed to find has been seen last. An extra day or two wouldn't matter compared to that." The blonde man informs her, somewhat irritating Anya.
"Glynda said we should leave immediately. We have a job to do as Huntsmen and you know how important this is." Red eyes glared at blue, blue eyes that hardened to match hers.
"And it's best to go in with a plan and to be prepared." He counters. "Have you heard anything from Itazura yet?"
Talon stepped up to help defuse the tense atmosphere knowing how they would butt heads on how to do things fairly often. "From her directly? No. But what she was able to do, yes." Both blondes in the kitchen gave her raised eyebrows, silently asking for clarification. "There's a big project going on in Menagerie that has people from all of the Kingdoms to build it. Haven't heard any big updates about that since the thing started but it seems to be going well."
"Really? What's going on there?" Denko asks as he leans back in his chair.
"Not really clear on that ourselves, seems to be a need to know only kind of thing. All we know is that there is a big thing going on there and that's it. Has been for a few months." Anya crosses her arms.
"So, you are being vague about a mission around me but there's another that you are kept in the dark about… and you're okay with this?" Yang asks as she looks at the older team.
"Yang… you know that we can't know every detail about missions we aren't on." Denko nearly moans. "And you know about keeping missions secret from others."
She blushed as she recalled the White Fang and Torchwick investigations that her team had imposed on themselves and did some shady things to not tell their friends about it, aside from the one big night with Sun and Neptune.
"And… what is this big mission you have to go on? Trying to find someone really good at Hide and Seek?" She tried to deflect back to the beginning topic.
"Just gonna give another try at finding a special person that's needed for something special for Goodwitch." Denko tells her, pointedly ignoring the annoyed look he got from her by being vague.
"I'm home!"
"That was fast!" Denko was quick to shift the conversation.
"Yeah, well… I told the Headmaster about this whole thing and they approved it pretty fast. They'll have someone escort Yang to the Grimm and we got someone for the fight at the school." Tai got himself a cup of iced tea from the fridge.
"When?"
"Tomorrow."
The younger blondes shared a surprised look. "That's not much time." Denko shrugs.
"I think you did a good job with getting me ready for this." Yang supports his training methods.
"I guess we're not going for a bit then." Anya huffs.
"Hey, why not be here to give her support?" Talon tries to play mediator, remembering how they had found Tai earlier and with how her sister was acting now.
"It's not like it's being pushed back a month. Just two days. We watch the test tomorrow and leave the next day." Denko explains. "Good?" He asks Anya directly.
"Fine."
Later that night…
"Were you really going easy on me when we sparred?" Yang asks as she lay in bed with Denko.
Denko glanced at her in the dark room lit only by the moon and starlight. "Only a bit. I held back enough to make sure you were always challenged, not beaten down."
"So you were." She rolled over, some of her belly spilling over him to pin him there.
Denko's hands rose up to cup the bare skin and give her a light squeeze. "Call it keeping you motivated. Eventually you would have gotten to really pushing me."
"Push you? Not beat you?"
"You realize that there is a pretty big gap that you need to close first, right?" He tickled her sides under her shirt to roll her off of him. "And if you really do start to push me, I'll just get better to stay ahead."
Yang could see the grin in the darkness and as much as she could see his point, she didn't want him to be so smug about it. "Then I guess I'll just have to keep you in line like this!" And she rolled herself back so that she was now laying on top of him, his wrists being held by her hands and her legs kept his down.
"Not bad." Denko readily admits, not trying to get free.
"Yeah, well why is it that you are so hard when I'm so soft?" She whispers in his ear and she could see his face darken in the dim light, feeling a few twinges under her. Then she rolled back to her side. "Too bad I need my rest for tomorrow, tonight could have been fun."
"Fine, get some sleep." Denko grumbles as he tries to relax and restore normal blood flow.
—-
If there was one thing Weiss hated about long flights it was the boredom that came with them. Nothing but the ground too far away to make out any details and the clouds around them with blue sky above. She had her small stint of sitting in the cockpit for her own entertainment but that value wore off within the first three hours. After that, she retreated to the passenger section of the Manta where she could stretch her legs a bit in the space that could hold a dozen men.
Double checking that her luggage was secure, a bit of maintenance on Myrtenaster which included sharpening and cleaning, a few simple exercises and stretches… that was the best that she could do to keep herself occupied. She could always look at the photos and videos on her scroll but she had them all committed to memory by this point.
And so she found herself eventually drifting off to sleep laying across the seats.
AN: We have a bunch of cliffhangers here to try wrapping up next time. Team RNNJR are getting their collective butts handed to them by an as yet unnamed opponent, trouble at the Pine Farm, Qrow having problems with his semblance, and Yang going through the first part of her test... all while Weiss is so bored that she takes a nap to pass the time.
And how hard was it to connect the dots on the inspiration for Cliff?
Hopefully I'll have the next chapter out faster than this one. Until then, reviews are welcome!
