I whipped my leg up and settled into the leather, running my hand over the handles and brake levers. The bike was bulky and somewhat intimidating on first glance, with armor plating that covered any vulnerable parts and a monstrous set of wheels. It was mainly matte black, and had sparse red accents that matched Jessie's headband.
'She's got good taste.' I thought, moving to flick the ignition switch.
"Hey!" Jessie interrupted, smacking my hand. "What do you think you're doing? Are you gonna make me hug onto your shield the entire way to Nevermelt?"
I narrowed my eyes at her, nearly telling her flat out that I was unwilling to leave it behind. I was prevented as she pressed a rather impressive rifle to the plate that armed the front of the bike, and with a loud thunk it held firm when she let it go.
"Use the magnets, silly! I'm not pressing against cold steel the whole ride." She told me faux-sternly, squinting and shaking her finger. I just rolled my eyes.
"We're both wearing armor anyway." I grunted out, but still complied. My hand released the straps, and I grabbed both my sword and shield as one unit off my back and slapped it onto the opposite side of the bike with one arm. A loud clunk sounded out, and it stuck neatly just like her weapon.
"Much better. It's nice to have a partner that listens to reason."
Jessie happily hopped on the bike behind me, sliding closer before patting me on the shoulder. Taking that as my que, I flipped the ignition switch and let it go to work. Lights flashed and settled as it went through startup, and after a second it roared to life. My body shook from the bike, and it made a smirk sprout up on my lips. I hit the throttle ever so gently, rolling us out and stopping in front of the garage pointed towards the street. Not a second passed before my partner waved her scroll and the sheeted metal door closed tight.
"I'm ready, chauffeur!"
A small smile slid on my face because of my exuberant partner. I revved the engine, letting the bike roar underneath me still pinned in place.
"Let's rock."
The tires screeched against the concrete as the bike zoomed to the end of the alley and as we reached the end I tailed it, leading us into a drift. The tires skidded across the concrete and pavement smoothly out into the middle of the street, and my foot braced our weight from the lean.
"Okay, you sure you know how to drive?" Jessie probed from behind, poking the back of my neck. Feeling excited, I wasted no time in cranking the throttle and sending us flying down the street. The front wheel bucked into the air and hands wrapped around me immediately, Jessie pressing herself to my back with a yelp.
"Of course. A neighbor back home would let me drive his tractor all the time."
"Hahaha!" She laughed in my ear. "That's totally not the same thing at all!"
"That was a joke." I amended with the ghost of a smile on my face. We caught up to traffic on the streets, and I took them as an obstacle. I weaved the bike around a delivery truck and ducked ahead sharply, accelerating further than it could keep up and avoiding an oncoming vehicle. "A friend of mine had a bike of her own. Her sister and I may have taken it for a joyride or two."
"Ooooh, a rulebreaker huh? Keep being interesting and you'll make my heart flutter!" She sighed romantically, squeezing against my back. I dodged around another slower vehicle, getting the attention of the pedestrians as we tore rubber through Mantle and I glanced back at her.
"Get off the bike." My order was bland, and she just laughed at me.
"Sike!" She said, slapping her hand against my pauldron playfully. "Although… maybe if you take my breath away with your amazing driving skills, I might be inclined to give you something special."
"Tch, don't need it." I scoffed, waving off the offer without hesitation. The bike swerved, and I gracefully drifted us along an intersection onto another street that would lead us straight out of the city. The machine roared hellishly under us, almost growling at the pavement.
"Sure you don't, Jaune." Her words were as playful as usual. I could do nothing but shake my head at my new partner.
We eventually had to slow down to pass through a military checkpoint, and shortly after that the pavement that bit at our tires turned to snow when we were forced to leave the beaten path. There were no pre-made roads to Nevermelt, and since we left the protective heat of Mantle we were now getting flecked with lazily drifting snowflakes. One smacked my eye, and I had to blink it away with a frown.
Knuckles rapping at the back of my cuirass cut me away from the peaceful drive.
"Hm?" I grunted out.
"No need to panic," She started conversationally, some amusement to her tone. "But we've got company gaining on us."
Her hand moved to point from my peripheral, and I turned to follow the gesture. A black mass charged over the tundra, kicking up a cloud of snow behind it. It was a pack of individual Grimm keeping pace with our ride despite how fast we were tearing through, and they were keeping just enough distance to keep an eye on us. A scowl crossed my face and I narrowed my eyes on the monsters, glowering at the fact they were able to match us. Black flesh rippled and contorted with exertion of speed as the pack charged, with white plating flexing just as fast on the surface.
"Ice Sabyrs, th- 9-OCLOCK!"
When her words cut themselves off I acted on the shout immediately, with my head whipping to my direct left. Leaping through the air at us was a gaping maw of bleached bone with a mass of black that followed, and I didn't need more than that. I snapped my weapon free and jabbed forward faster than I could think to, and the barrel of my Atlas-provided shotgun slammed back into the gaping maw of the Sabyr. With a hideous crunch the teeth shattered and the gnarly canine teeth grew cracks as the barrel was jammed deep. Dangerous growls from the Grimm sounded over the roar of the engine, but gravity took its toll on it. With the metal wedged deep in its throat, the Sabyr hung from the tip of my gun in the air as we zoomed on. I pulled back the trigger, and with a boom the white scenery was suddenly painted with a spray of smoke and inky gore.
The head of the Grimm exploded, and the smoking body flopped to the tundra and was left behind like trash.
"Smart enough to set up distractions. How fun." I cheered flatly.
"You just held up an entire Sabyr by the tip of your gun, Mister Muscle. You could stand to sound a bit less annoyed." Jessie teased, just before turning contemplative. "We've still got a pack to deal with, though. That annoyance might come in handy…"
A huff left my lips, and I turned my attention back to the speeding Grimm. A group that was only half the size I remember had adjusted the angle of their charge. Now with every meter we traveled, the pack got closer and closer. With a frown, I decided to hurry the intersection and swerved to my left directly towards the Grimm. Three Sabyrs observed me sharply, and the moment my trajectory changed they planted their claws in the snow and skidded to a stop. Snow and ice kicked up around them briefly, but even through the cover they glowered at me. In smooth practiced motions two of the Grimm flanked the larger leader by hunching down dangerously as I approached, while the lead stared me down proudly.
My eyes narrowed into a cold glare at the feline, matching its stubborn distaste ounce for ounce. Jessie's bike tore across the landscape and we were upon them in mere seconds. The leader and I maintained eye contact the whole while and when we were within range, I jerked the handles and pumped one of the breaks which sent us into a fishtail. Jessie squealed with excitement and latched on tightly to me. The tail of the bike whipped around from behind and clobbered into my adversary and sent it flying back, and just under the roaring motor I heard the tell-tale snap of bones.
A grumbling snarl met me when we came to a stop, and without hesitation I torqued back the accelerator and fired my shotgun towards the sound. With a glance I confirmed that one of the lackeys had its head turn to fine black mist that smoked over the snow before it could even lunge. On my face rested a satisfied smirk as the bikes' tires tracked against the fresh snow, and as I brought the bike in tight to circle around the second follower I holstered my gun and yanked my sword free from the sheath on the side.
A roar met the roar of my engine when I straightened the path out towards the last Sabyr in the group. It hunched down low against the ground and coiled up, and when we beamed too close it pounced. The powerful muscles sent it over the head of the bike and its clawed front paws were aimed straight for my head, but the Grimm never came back down. Instead, a blade pierced through the sternum of the beast and kept it ahead of me. I scowled and dragged my sword to the side and the thrashing beast followed, leaving it aloft and clawing over the quickly moving tundra as we continued to blast across the landscape. It snarled and growled viciously, trying to stick into me with anything it could.
In retaliation, I flicked the Sabyr off my weapon to the front of the vehicle. Two large jolts of the motorcycle and a series of yowls were all that amounted from it becoming roadkill and dying.
I eased off the accelerator and calmly wheeled the bike back to the leader of the pack. Once close, it was easy to see the state it was in. It had been blasted into a snowdrift and both front legs had been shattered, with them looking as mangled as they did. It sat and struggled to exist, lying on its back against the cropping of dense snow. I brought us closer, and simply sliced the head off the still growling beast with a casual swing. When it thumped against the ground smoke began to pour.
"Wow, what a RUSH!" My passenger gushed, her hands on my shoulders as she rocked this way and that and tried to shake me. "We should do that again!"
"Glad you're having fun." It came out more gruff than I meant it, but she didn't seem to mind. I slipped the sword away and drew my gun, holding it out under my shoulder. "Reload me?"
"Well of course, Huntsman. What are passenger princesses like me for?" She giggled at her own joke, taking the shotgun from my hand. I heard her fiddling with it for a second, the sounds of her gloves against the material. "Ew. You only have two shots in this thing? What the heck."
"Cool it, I didn't pick that." I placated blandly, leaning against the body of the bike. "I asked the Armory for something close range, and this is what I got."
"I'll let you pass for now… I guess. It's not bad. Sacrifices ammunition quantity for far increased stopping power and a Dust acceleration mechanism. Let's have you actually take advantage of that, yeah?" She rambled, squirming around on the seat behind me. I felt her fingers feel around on my waist before plucking a couple shells from the ammunition belt I got with the gun. "Solid Slugs, Burn lined. You had some type of shredders before, this should be more your speed. You need to be more specific about your guns! What if you're caught in the right place with the wrong gun? Huh, huh?"
I took the offered gun and slid it back into the holster, shaking my head at her.
"I'll just leave that to you, since you're an expert. You seem to know what you're talking about."
"Aw, sweet talking me already? I don't know if my heart is ready, it's all just moving so fast…" Jessie swooned behind me, bracing herself against my back.
I glanced back at her dryly.
"Sike!"
"I'll take my compliment back."
"Wait, you don't have to go that far!" She backpedaled, shaking my shoulders.
"… fine. You ca-!"
The snow drift we were idling next to exploded out, sending a cloud of loose snow and chunks of ice spraying around us. A howl under-toned the action, and I reacted like lightning. My hand lashed out towards the epicenter and grasped, and by the time the snow hit the ground I was holding an Ice Sabyr by the neck. From my peripheral two black masses flanked us, and the moment I noticed them the throttle of the bike was cranked. We peeled and our tires spat snow and ice chunks back at the Grimm and sped off, leaving a pair of growls behind us.
"GRAAAAA!" The Grimm still held by my grip was unhappy and littering my arm with claw slashes, to no advantage as my fingers stayed clutched and my aura fended off the attacks. I glared over at it icily as we picked up near top speed and the landscaped zoomed away under us.
"Shut up, damn cat."
A loud bang sounded off in unison with the left eye being blown out of the beast. It twitched a couple times, but then started the process of turning to ash. As it went limp and the head decomposed I dropped it to the ground and left it behind. I followed the barrel of the pistol held out beside my head to the hand, then followed the arm directly to my companion.
"Don't thank me yet, we've got more kittens!" Jessie's words were closer to my ear than I was prepared for. I glanced back, and beyond Jessie herself were the remaining two Sabyrs bounding in our direction over the tundra. Their speed was considerable, to the point they were closing the distance! An annoyed huff left me and I faced back towards the front. In a smooth motion that surprised me Jessie seemed to flow around me, maneuvering to duck under my arm. I had to lean backwards to accommodate her as she plopped down straddling my lap to face backwards. She held her face close to mine, looking impishly into my eyes with a smile. "No need to worry, handsome. I've got these two!"
It took a lot of willpower to school my emotions, and in the end I managed to give her an expression that only vaguely looked like annoyance. In response, she drew both pistols from her thigh holsters and wiggled them for context held akimbo.
"… hm. Just don't miss." I hummed out. She scrunched her nose at me, almost taking offense to that.
"Hey! Who do you think you're talking to?" She huffed, proceeding anyway. The Huntress pressed herself against me, leveling her arms under mine and resting her head beside my neck which let her peek over my shoulder. "I don't call myself a marksman for fun, ya know."
She went silent. For an instant, I heard the bike and the pounding of paws against packed snow and nothing else. The tundra felt eerily calm, with the biting wind and the snowy overcast sky. Jessie's heartbeat echoed through her armor and I could feel it clearly where she pressed against me. In the next second, twin bangs broke through the trance and I felt her arms brace the impact. In the wake of the gunshots, the sounds of both Grimm disappeared.
"Heh." I let a ghostly smile tug at the corners of my lips as Jessie leaned back away from me. She looked the definition of smug. She held her guns out widely to her sides and twirled them smoothly.
"Bang! Just like that, Jaune. Who's the coolest Huntress you've worked with yet? I bet her name starts with a 'J'!" Jessie bragged proudly, puffing up at her single shot kills. I didn't bother looking to confirm where they were hit. The fact they're dead is good enough for me.
"Winter starts with a 'W', though." I teased expressionlessly. My partner pouted as she holstered her guns, and went about waving her arms animatedly.
"You didn't even hesitate! That's so mean, Huntsman. Did you even look, did ya?"
She went on like that giving me grief, and I took her playful admonishments passively. A couple seconds into it, something just beyond her caught my attention. In the distance behind her ponytail as it whipped from the wind, a light layer of snow stood up.
Time felt slow.
The fluffy snow fell slowly from black flesh and bleached bone plating as a scarred Sabyr rose to its haunches from its ambush point. The Grimm was a mere 100 feet from us where it stood, and we were traveling far too fast to avoid it. Its red eyes seemed to meet mine much to my shock and it rose to its hind legs, gaping its maw wide and angling the giant canines just so. A hot glare took over my expression. I set my jaw and moved before I could plan. My shotgun was drawn and my arm wrapped around Jessie, pinning her arms to her side and squishing her against me. She squeaked and watched as massive teeth missed impaling her forearm by mere inches, and I pulled the trigger.
The solid slug blasted a burning hole through the side of the Sabyr. The entire time, I glared at it from my peripheral.
"Bang." I muttered to myself.
Jessie looked shocked as I holstered my weapon and grabbed the handles again. I aimed us towards Nevermelt and put pressure once again on the accelerator, getting all I could out of the roaring machine. My partner shook off her surprise slowly, still glancing at where the teeth would've clamped down on her. This all passed as a mockingly sweet expression erupted on her features. She looked into my eyes and let her hand caress the scars on the side of my face with a smile.
"Oh, my Hero!" She gushed, putting on a show of sounding lovestruck as she fanned herself.
I stared down at her for a second before sighing and focusing on the tundra leading to the forest, and the bullhead that just passed us overhead.
"You gonna get outta the way, or what?"
[AN- Back yet again! Thanks for everything last chap guys, all the comments and follows and favs are crazy. Here's one of my favorite chapters so far, I had fun with this one. Hope you enjoy!]