I dropped Jessie to the snow to rest gently against a tree, right before falling to the ground myself.
On my hands and knees I breathed roughly, lungs burning from the restless run into Nevermelt. Sweat dripped down my nose and plopped onto fresh white, and I watched the heat of the liquid melt snow where it landed. The sound of my heartbeat slowly subsided from my ears as I took a deep breath and sighed it out. My digits dug into the soft top layer of snow, chilling my skin.
"Welp," My companion started off, voice distinctly steadier than when we escaped. Her knees were drawn to her chest, and her arms wrapped her legs close. "I think I definitely regret hoping for something exciting earlier."
"I can tell." I agreed, glancing at her with a smirk. It was relaxing, feeling the cold air ease the heat of my skin. "You haven't messed with me the entire way here, not even a single comment. Is that a personal record?"
"Oh put a sock in it, Mister Wyvern Killer. Not everyone's faced down giant, yucky things like an arm that rips out of the ground! You might be in your element, but that was one of the craziest things I've ever seen! If you think I can just go right back to messing with you after that, you're insane." She ranted, ending off by blowing a raspberry at me childishly.
A snort escaped me, the amusement I felt at finally getting back at her unavoidable. With a grunt I pushed myself over and fell onto my back in the fresh snow.
"Maybe I am." I admitted, to Jessie and partly to myself. The frozen branches above glittered, which I found very pretty. "I wouldn't let that get you down. We can kill it."
"Maybe you can." She rejected quietly. I flicked to her from my peripheral, eyeing her silently. "What would I even be able to do? That arm was as tall as an oak tree! If you didn't stop it, I'm not sure if my aura would've held out from that hit."
"…"
I held my tongue at that. What could I even say?
"I feel like such deadweight right now, it's embarrassing. Solitas is supposed to be my turf, and Mantle is my home. I'm a Huntress, but I can't think of any way to hunt something as ridiculous as that…"
I watched my partner calmly, sympathizing with her more than she would ever know. Internally, I fought between two urges. The urge was strong to treat her as a stranger, someone untrustworthy that could turn out to be an enemy. It was something becoming second nature in me after the attack on Vale, and the events of Beacon… after she masqueraded as one of us. On the other hand, was the urge to help. To treat her the same as I would one of my friends, with the sole intention of making sure they're alright. For a while, I struggled with the unconscious decision.
I sighed tiredly when one side finally won out.
"If you can't think of a way, then stop thinking of killing it alone." The words were thrown out in the brief silence, breaking it.
"Huh?"
"You heard me. You're worried about taking the hits from that thing, and about how you'd attack it. You did just fine before, as far as I'm concerned. I'm not the one that thought of the grenades, remember?" I admonished, getting to my feet with a grunt.
"I- well… we've only got so many." She added, brushing off my words. "I can't just throw grenades at it until it dies, and I've only got so many special rounds."
"You're thinking too narrow. Again, you're not fighting it alone." I reminded, crossing my arms as I glanced at her. Her eyes remained fixated on me for a second, just before falling as she hugged her knees closer.
"You're one to talk. If those stories are true, then you fought that Wyvern single-handedly! And that's not even mentioning all the-" She started, sounding like she was shrinking into herself even as she began to panic.
"You think I wanted to fight that thing alone?" I interrupted roughly, knocking her out of her pity. I felt a scowl develop on my lips, one I couldn't shake as I remembered the fight with that thing. "My Professor and I were on a different mission when it woke up, and I was dragged off into the sky alone. I never wanted to fight that thing, much less without help, but the choice was out of my hands. There were only two options to pick from. Either fight it and potentially die, or escape and let it crush what little the Kingdom had left."
"I-I never thought…" Jessie muttered, trailing off as she locked eyes with me. I stared back with intensity, sure to get my feelings across.
"I did what I had to. As it turns out, I made the right choice. Now I'm gaining the experience I need to get things done. Above all that, killing the Wyvern stuck it to the person that used it to attack Beacon!" I said staunchly, as much for myself as for her. My feet took steps towards her, closing the distance slowly. "You're not deadweight. Before the Fall, I was more deadweight than you've ever been. Don't worry so much about that thing, you'll just attract more Grimm."
"Maybe you're right…" The Huntress sighed. She shook her head and sent her ponytail flinging around, before slapping her hands on her cheeks to knock herself out of her funk. Once she was hyped up, she glanced at me with a sheepish smile. "Oh, I must look pretty silly huh? Acting so self-assured then just freaking out on you!"
"Not at all. You should've seen me fighting my first Nevermore in the air, or my first White Fang, or even the Wyvern. I was a mess." My words came with a microscopic smile, and when I got close enough I offered her my hand. "Just let me take the hits and you'll be fine enough to do your thing. I'm sure you've got a couple explosive surprises I don't know about, right?"
"Elm was right. You're actually a nice guy under that mean front, aren't ya?" Jessie giggled quietly. I scowled, rejecting the smile that wanted to come to me.
"Tch. Of course not."
With a laugh she grabbed my hand and I lifted her to her feet.
"Thanks." She said, patting against my pauldron and grabbing her rifle. I stepped back as she inspected it for damage.
"Don't mention it." I grunted, taking a page from her and patting myself down to ensure all my equipment was still with me. As I did so, I let my eyes sweep over the forest around us in mild curiosity. The iced-over trees really were something unique. "I suppose since we're here, we should look into our mis-"
My swiveling head stopped immediately, and my words died on my tongue.
"Jaune?"
My companion might as well have been mute. A blotch of black caught my attention in the frosty white forest, off in the distance. It peered out from the side of a tree, a black strip with the plates of bright white perched atop. I couldn't make anything else out aside from twin red glints with the distance between us. Thoughtlessly my hand twitched to grip my loaner sword.
The instant my hand moved, the strip of black retreated smoothly behind the tree.
"Huh. This whole time…" I muttered, caught off-guard at the concept of a skittish Grimm. "I don't think we're alone here, Jessie."
"I'd be shocked if we were. If we ran straight, we should be right in the middle of the southern portion of the forest. The exact place we need to clear out." Jessie commented blithely, topping off her magazine before reinserting it with a wink towards me. I glanced at her blandly about to give a dry retort, but froze.
The same black strip was leaning from behind a tree, this one much closer than just a second ago. This close, I could recognize the strip as a noodle-like throat that was coated with thin white plates on its sides. Atop the neck was a brutal imitation of a skinless bird skull, nearly void of black flesh and only having bright red pinprick eyes to tell that it wasn't a corpse. If not for the throat and eyes, it blended into the forest perfectly. I repressed my discomfort when I noticed it was staring directly at me, unmoving.
Without hesitation I ripped my gun free and fired quickly. The slug blasted a hole in the side of the tree right where the skull was, sending splinters of wood and shards of ice flying as Jessie jumped from the sudden bang. The head was gone before the bang of the shotgun even sounded off, but I raced over regardless. I cleared the distance and lunged behind the tree, jabbing the barrel directly where I knew the Grimm would be…
… only for the tip of my gun to hit nothing but air. I flicked my gaze around, and nothing out of the ordinary greeted me. Just bark, ice, and snow.
"… this shit again?" I grumbled, immediately thinking back to my time at the Overstate with the Lurkers. I slid another shell into my shotgun and holstered it with a huff. "I was hoping I was done with those, now they've got bird heads. Wonderful."
"Ya get it?" My partner prodded, amusement in her voice.
"Sure did." My answer was flat and bland, and gained me a laugh from the woman. I looked back at her, repressing a smirk. My eyes snapped open in surprise at what greeted me. Just behind Jessie was the Grimm, and she was oblivious to it.
The thing towered over her, leaving her looking downright diminutive in comparison. The same grotesque bird skull sat atop a long neck that stretched its height easily above 9 feet. It led down to a large body covered in white bone that lined the bulk, jutting out dangerously in loosely organized sheets of shards and spikes. Beneath were powerful legs that slammed harshly into the snow with oddly shaped feet. The thing was rushing my partner from behind at a pace that displayed the power of its legs, and was only a few feet away from her. Not a single sound came from its charge. The crunch of snow, the weight behind each step, the clattering of armor, all of it was nonexistent. My blood dropped. It was too close, I'd never make it in time.
"BrrrdeaaaaAAAAAACHrEEE!"
"JESSIE!"
In the end my shout was unnecessary. The Grimm let out a horrendous gurgling screech and puffed up as it charged, flaying out large wings of bone shards. They swayed with each step, and still the only sound was the unnaturally long screech from the bird. A look flashed over Jessie's face as if struck by lightning, and without hesitation she threw herself to the side. As she rolled to her side, her pistol was drawn and fired quickly just as the thing raced passed her. The large beak exploded into shards of bone that blasted off the head of the Grimm, but it wasn't fazed in the slightest. Instead, it continued the charge with the same rancid cry.
Directly towards me.
"Damn freak!" I levied my insult under my breath as it raced forward. My hands shot to my weapons, and as instinctual as breathing my sword was ripped from my sheath and the tower shield was taken from my back. I threw my shield in front of me and braced, preparing to bash and retaliate.
I wasn't prepared for it to leap.
It silently launched from the ground and slammed its feet into my shield with all the force of its charge. The long talons scraped hellishly against the metal surface, far louder and wilder than the silent footsteps would lead you to think. I held strong, even as my feet dug into the icy ground. The talons scraped and the shield creaked dangerously and felt wobbly on my arm, and the Grimm paid no mind to any of it. It used me as a surface and scrambled over me, kicking me in the back of the head as it went. My aura flared to compensate and I whipped around to slice, but the bird was already racing far into the forest. When it disappeared behind the trees I cautioned a glance at my shield.
"Damn…" The curse was muttered. The thing was rough. The top was deformed and gouged from the bird, though the entire thing was slightly warped. Obviously it doesn't seem to have been designed to take a hit from a giant limb, or a giant bird. "… they really just gave me a cheap piece of shit. Great."
A loud bang shook through the area, one that was familiar now. I looked back casually, seeing Jessie had taken a knee to look through the sight of her rifle. Letting my weapons rest at my sides, I moseyed back to her.
"Ya get it?" I asked blandly, hiding a smirk as she giggled.
"Of course!" She smiled widely at me, shaking her head amusedly. "Smartypants."
"That might be the nicest thing anyone's said to me." I joked tepidly, sliding my attention across the trees. Without a doubt there are more, but none are peeking at the moment. Silence reigned over the area, but that wasn't reassuring. I glanced quickly to my peripherals, and still met nothing.
"CerrRGRUAAGRGREELR!"
A diseased screech blasted from the Grimm, the gurgle underneath making my skin crawl. It was close, so I wasted no time in acting. I grabbed my partner by the waist and leapt to the side. As I skid through the snow on my knees I sheathed my sword and ripped a grenade from my belt, attention narrowing in on the Grimm as it romped silently through where we were. I tossed after priming, and it stuck like glue to the base of its long neck. I jumped back to my feet dragging Jessie to hers as well, and redrew my blade.
After a few seconds of the Grimm charging away, the grenade went off with a thundering bang. Broken shards of bone plating sprayed into the snow and trees, directly from the new crater in the monster's body. The heavy head crashed onto the ground with the neck having been mangled to strings, and the dense body sliced a gouge through the snow as it fell and skipped across the snow.
"Nice!" Jessie complimented. She'd shouldered her rifle in favor of drawing her pistols, I guess for maneuverability. "You got em that time, big guy."
"Damn right." I grinned savagely. Killing Grimm was something to take pleasure in. No love is lost for soulless killing machines. "Let's see how many more there are."
[AN - Back in action, baby! Hope everyone enjoyed the break! Unfortunately I didn't get quite the stockpile of chapters I was hoping for, so for now the updates will be every other week instead of weekly. Hope that's okay for everyone. Thanks for being patient guys, enjoy!]