Cinder rolled to the side as the Werewolf's attack slammed down right where she had been standing. It recovered too quickly for a counter attack and swung at her again. Realizing it was faster then it looked, Cinder leaped back, trying to keep distance.
But it wasn't having any of that. It lunges at her, arms stretched out. Cinder barely had time to get out of the way. She watched it fly past her and crash through a sofa, splitting it in two. The next second, the Werewolf grabbed the sofa half and threw them at the girl, Cinder was able to dodge, but only just.
Nervously, Cinder bit her lip. She needed to attack if she wanted to win, but without any range attacks, she would have to get in close. And even then, her blades were broken, so they wouldn't do much damage to the beast, her only hope was to use her size and speed to weaken the creature and then finish it off with her semblance. Anything else would end with her death.
This was going to be a trial by fire.
Cinder charged forward, gripping her blades tightly in her hands. As the Werewolf saw her approaching, it charged at her on all fours, mouth snarling at it's incoming prey.
As they ran at each other, the Werewolf leapt towards Cinder, attempting to bite off her head, the girl however was expecting that and slid underneath it, slashing it's legs with her broken sword.
The Grimm landed and turned to face the girl, black blood leaked from the cut on it's leg, but it didn't seem bothered. Cinder slid on the sand, forcing her to drive her blade into the ground to slow her. She spun around, grinning at the Grimm.
"Not so tough, are you?" She taunted. "Guess legends are always exaggerated." The Werewolf snarled at her, then charged again. Cinder grabbed a nearby nightstand and threw it at the Grimm.
With a single swing of it's paw, it smashed the nightstand, barely slowing down. But when it had been thrown, the Werewolf vision had been blocked, and it had lost sight of Cinder. As the fragments scattered, it saw the girl right in front of it, swords already swinging towards it.
Using it's momentum, the Grimm threw itself to the side, dodging the blow aimed for it's head, causing the blades to scrap its shoulder.
Slowly, the battle turned in Cinder's favor as she danced around the Grimm, slashing at its arms and legs, leaving deep gashes. She knew if she kept this up, it would have to wear itself out sooner or later, giving her the perfect opportunity to land a killing blow.
But suddenly, the Werewolf roared and began swinging wildly, without any care for defending itself. Cinder saw her chance and darted in, slashing it's thigh, but to her surprise, the beast didn't try to block or dodge, instead swinging at her with it's massive claw as if it no longer cared for its own safety! Cinder leapt away, but the Grimm didn't stop. It chased after her, wracking it's claw across her shoulder, knocking the girl off balance.
Before she could recover, the Werewolf landed a massive uppercut to her chest, the force knocked the wind of her. She was sent flying and crashed into the ceiling, before falling back to the ground.
She hit the ground with a hard thud, leaving her gasping and heaving, trying to regain her breath, but before she could, the Werewolf was above her, swinging its massive claw to rip her in half.
Cinder rolled away just in time as the claw ripped through the area she had just been laying. The blow sent sand flying into the air, temporarily blocking the Werewolf's vision. Using the opportunity, Cinder rolled onto her shoulders, then used her arms to push herself off the ground, flipping herself back on her feet.
As the sand cleared, the Grimm lunged at her, but Cinder was faster. She kicked sand into the Werewolf's face, where it got into its eyes blinding it. As it got closer, it began swinging wildly, trying to land a hit on the girl, but Cinder gracefully dodged around it's flailing arms and mounted the beast, stabbing her blades into its back.
Feeling the swords impaling it. The Werewolf started bucking and clawing at it's back, trying to get her off. Cinder held on to her sword with one hand, with the other, she grabbed the back of it's neck and activated her semblance.
Immediately, the Grimm howled in pain as it's skin began to fry. Becoming desperate to dislodge the girl, it threw itself backwards into a support pillar.
There was a sickening crack as Cinder was smashed so hard that the pillar broke. The force stunned the girl, making her lose her grip on her blade. As the Grimm moved forward and spun around, leaving Cinder hanging in the air for a split second, before the Werewolf hit her right in the chest and launched her across the room, where she hit the wall before falling to the ground.
Coughing, Cinder staggered to her feet as the Werewolf wiped the sand from its eyes. This wasn't good. She couldn't take too many more hits before her aura was completely gone. And the Werewolf still didn't seem tired. She bent down to grab her swords, but felt her heart stop when she saw them still stuck in the Werewolf's back. Then hadn't come out when she had been thrown!
Before she could dwell on what to do, the Werewolf lunged at her again, swinging wildly putting her on the defensive. It chased Cinder around the basement, trying to corner her, but Cinder was quick and agile enough to dart away. She slid over and weaved around the furniture, always trying to keep something between them, then dodging around it when she got too close to the wall. However, each time she ducked around the Grimm, it's attacks would come closer and closer to her.
Realizing it was adapting to her size and speed, Cinder knew it was only a matter of time before it would figure out how to strike her. If she didn't go on the offensive, she would be killed. However, she had to not only attack it, but injured it enough that it couldn't just trade blows. Otherwise it would finish her off the moment she tried.
Cinder slid over a table and then kicked it up, turning it into a makeshift barrier between herself and the Werewolf, blocking herself from it's view. With a single swing, the Grimm split the table, sending it's pieces flying into the air. However, it had missed Cinder.
Using the opportunity, Cinder had slunk around the side, and now that she had an opening, she lunged forward, driving her fist into the creature's face. Immediately, there was a massive explosion of steam, burning the Werewolf and knocking it off-balance. Using the opening, Cinder jumped behind it to retrieve her swords.
But then the Werewolf did something Cinder hadn't expected. Instead of stumbling back, it planned it's hind legs regaining it's footing instantly, then spun to strike the girl.
Realizing too late it had regained it's balance, Cinder didn't react and the Werewolf landed a direct hit right to her stomach. Her eyes widened in shock as the wind was knocked from her. She felt the force of the blow send her flying backwards.
But then, the Grimm grabbed her arm, jerking her to a stop, then whipping her around as it threw her in the other direction, where she smashed through a stack of chairs knocking them down, breaking them, and still hitting the wall on the far side, before collapsing in a heap, aura flickering.
Slowly, Cinder pulled herself to her feet. Her entire body hurt, her aura had protected her from damage, but couldn't absorb the pain. If it landed one more clean hit, it would be over. Where on Remnant had it learn a move like that!? That was clearly a dumbed down version of a huntsman move. It must be a lot older than it's legend.
Cinder looked up to see the Werewolf slowly approaching. It must have known she was near her limit and wasn't in a hurry to finish the fight. Has it somehow developed sadism? Or maybe it had realized it could learn more from an injured opponent. Either way, she had to finish it in her next move.
Cinder grabbed a thick piece of splintered wood from the floor, arming herself, then began focusing all of her remaining strength into using her semblance on her right fist. It turned red and began releasing steam, the heat alone burning away at her aura. She had never used her semblance to its full potential and had no idea what would happen, but if this didn't take this thing out, she would die.
The Werewolf saw her red fist and roared. It clearly knew that attack and wasn't eager to get hit by another one. It charged at Cinder, aiming to knock her out with it's next attack.
When it swung, Cinder enacted her plan.
She ducked under its arm and drove the wood into a gash on it's leg right below the knee. The pain caused the Grimm to fall to the ground. Seeing it down, Cinder grabbed another piece of wood from the floor, then lunged forward.
The Grimm spun around swinging at her, but that's what she had expected. She raised the wood as the Grimm's strike was about to hit her, impaling it's arm in the wood, but not stopping it's momentum.
The force slammed into her, directing her upwards, the wood slipped out of it's arm and the force launched her to the ceiling. Cinder spun in the air, letting herself land with her feet on the ceiling. Once there, she threw the wood at the Grimm below.
The Grimm still couldn't move right, so it swung it deflected the attack. However, the moment it paw hit the wood, it exploded with steam, knocking the Grimm onto it's back.
Seeing her chance, Cinder kicked off the ceiling, launching herself towards the Grimm. She pull her arm back as she flew towards the ground, aiming to crack the things head open.
As she shot through the steam, it stung her eyes causing them to water, but she had a good enough idea where the Werewolf's head was and swung anyway. The fuzzy black shape in front of her began moving as she swung her fist down. At the moment she felt contact, she released all the heat she had gathered all at once. She didn't know what was going to happen, but she predicted her semblance wouldn't disappoint.
And it didn't.
Immediately, both Cinder and the Werewolf were enfold in flames. A pillar of fire smashed into the ceiling igniting the house. Stray sparks spread to the furniture igniting them. Black smoke began forming in the enclosure basement, polluting the air and making it even more difficult to see.
The force of the blast sent Cinder flying several feet where she hit the ground hard, her aura shattering.
As she crawled to her feet, she grinned at the smoking crater in the room. "Let's see you get up from that, you bastard!" Cinder taunted. She let out a weak laugh as she grinned triumphantly. She had just killed a legend, and it felt good!
She couldn't wait to tell Summer about her killing a legend that had pledged Patch for years. She might change some details, but this would make her the number one kid in the house easily!
Then she saw movement in the smoke as a tall figure began limping towards her. Her heart stopped as she saw it clearly was a large Beowolf. "No way." She murmured. "Can't be." But it was. The Werewolf staggered out of the smoke, fur burning, but still alive.
The Werewolf had the left half its face burned, rendering it blind in one that eye. It's left shoulder and arm were pretty badly burned as well, and while it could still use it, it would be much weaker.
Cinder realized it must have rolled right before her attack hit, so it might have been caught in the blast, it hadn't been at the epicenter, so it was hurt but not dead. And Cinder was out of Aura.
Absolute terror filled Cinder. How was she supposed to beat this thing now!? She had put everything she had left into that attack and was now defenseless! And unlike Rouge, who was arrogant, this Grimm didn't have any human made errors that she could exploit.
Instinctively, Cinder took a step back. Was she going to die here? To this thing? Just when she had found a route to happiness? Back at the Glass Unicorn she had never been afraid to die, several days she had thought about trying to kill her sister just to take them with her, but after meeting Rhodes she had a spark of hope set in her that let her survive those four long years. After that, she had assumed she would die in the tundra. Of course she had buried those thoughts deep down, just trying to get the most out of her new freedom, but thinking back on it, a part of her had always been okay with dying.
But after meeting Summer that had changed. She now had a life worth living! She didn't want to give it up so soon after she had gotten it. That part of her that she didn't even know existed had gone out, and the fear of death had rooted itself deep inside her. A fear that was now causing her body to shake.
Sensing her fear, the Werewolf launched itself towards Cinder, claw outstretched. Snapping out of her trance, Cinder rolled forward just in time, dodging it's strike. Panicked, she frantically scanned the room for a way out, only seeing the stairs at the far end.
But she had taken her eyes off her opponent, and the second Grimm landed, it charged her once again.
Cinder was exhausted and distracted, she was slow to react and the beast pinned her beneath it's massive paw in the center of the chard area of her original attack. She struggled to free herself, hands grasping across the ground looking for something to use as a weapon, but to no avail.
Above her, the Grimm snarled, showing it's rows of horrible teeth. It raised it burned arm, ready to take off her head with a clean strike!
As her doom approached, Cinder's left hand scraped against several shards of sharp of… something. She grabbed a fist full and raked them across the beast's arm, ignoring the pain as they dug into her hand. But the beast seemed as unaffected as her.
"Get away from her!"
The loud shout was followed by a dull thud. Yang had charged back into the basement and hit the Werewolf in the head with her bat. The Werewolf looked up in annoyance at the young girl. It swung at her, but Yang ducked and hit it again, causing it to fall forward and her bat to break. Seeing an opportunity, Cinder twisted forward, stabbing the shards into the Werewolf's neck, causing it to howl in pain. It instantly moved back, letting Cinder wiggle out of its grasp and kick it right in the stomach, then scamper away.
"What are you doing here!?" Cinder yelled angrily. "I told you to-! cough! Cough! To run!" Cinder found it hard to breathe as smoke began filling the basement. But she was more annoyed that she was being interrupted.
"Well excuse me for-! Cough! Trying to help!" Yang shot back. "Next time I'll leave you to die in the house that's on FIRE! Maybe you should-!"
Suddenly, Cinder pushed Yang back before leaping out of the way as the Werewolf struck at them. Both girls got out of the way in time, but the Grimm slid around to face them and charged again, this time going after Yang, most likely trying to turn it back into a one on one fight. Yang had been knocked onto the ground from Cinder push and wasn't going to be able to get up in time. Seeing this, Cinder raced to try and intercept the beast, but her dodge had moved her too far away to, she wasn't going to make it in time!
When suddenly.
"Woof! Woof!" A black ball of fur smashed into the Grimm's burned face, knocking it away. Ricocheting off the Grimm, Zwei landed on his feet in between Yang and the Werewolf, growling at the beast.
"We'll talk later!" Yang called to Cinder as she got back to her feet and Cinder slid to a stop next to her. "Let's beat this thing up first, then get back to Ruby!" Normally Cinder would inform Yang that she didn't take orders from an eight year old brat, but now she bit her tongue and focused on the enemy in front of her.
The Werewolf moved slowly in front of the stairs. It must know they were planning on trying to escape and was trying to block them, but was hesitant to attack now that it was out numbered. Using the opportunity, Cinder checked her hand to see what was stabbing into it.
To her surprise, she saw several large glass shards in her palm. Had they been buried under the sand she hadn't seen them before, so maybe just in that one area? Either way, it gave her an idea, but she couldn't do it alone.
"Yang! Do you have any aura left?" Cinder called, causing the younger girl to turn. "Yeah, but not much! I think I can stop one blow." She replied.
"Good. I have a plan, but I need a distraction! Think you can keep it's attention on you for a few minutes?" Yang bit her lip nervously and didn't reply. Clearly apprehensive about having to be a distraction.
"Please." Cinder begged. "I can't win on my own." Yang looked at Cinder, trying to read the girl. Then after a few seconds let out a sigh. "Well, it's not like I really have any other choice." She replied, then shot the older girl a hard look. "Just don't screw up. Because if we die, I'm going to kill you." With a nod, both girls turned back to face their opponent.
All around them the fire was spreading. Both sides knew they had end the fight quickly or be crushed by the building when it collapsed.
Cinder's plan would dictate the winner of this fight.
Not wasting any time, Yang charged the beast, Zwei hot on her heels. Behind them, Cinder began pulling the shards of glass out of her hand. The Werewolf eyes narrowed as it watched the two combatants, clearly not intimidated.
Yang launched a flurry of attacks with her fists, but her blows did nothing against the Werewolf. Annoyed, it swiped at Yang, but she managed to dodge away and the attack only scrapes her arm, but before Yang could counter attack, the beast followed up with an uppercut to her chest, sending the girl flying several feel away, her aura flicking as she roll across the ground.
However, midway through its attack, Zwei slammed into it's injured knee, causing the beast to collapse. Furious, the Werewolf spun and tried to crush the dog between it's fist and the ground, but Zwei launched forward, crashing into it's fist.
The two both threw all their strength into the clash, but with a yelp, Zwei was knocked away, smashing into the wall, aura flickering. Behind them, Yang shot up, eyes red and burning with anger. She grabbed a long standing lamp and ran at the Werewolf.
It turned, but was to late to stop the stand of the lamp from crashing into it's face. The metal bent and there was a sickening crack, then the force of Yang's attack sent the Werewolf flying across the room and smashing into the far wall, going a foot inside it.
Zwei leapt to Yang's side and the girl smiled at the dog, then turned back to their opponent.
Slowly the Werewolf dragged itself out, it's jaw hanging loosely open. It's gaze now fixated on Yang, fury and hatred burning in his eye.
Suddenly, it crouched down on all fours and leaned forward, then let out a powerful roar, releasing a shockwave so strong that it blasted both Yang and Zwei off balance. Before either of them could regain their footing, the Werewolf launched itself through the air, reaching them in a second.
It grabbed Yang and dragged her across the ground as it let it's momentum carry it several feet before coming to a stop. It pulled Yang up to eye level by her neck and glared at her. The girl's aura had been broken when it had first grabbed her and now her clothes were ripped and her back was bleeding.
Yang struggled in the Werewolf's grip, clawing desperately to escape, but to no avail. Suddenly, Yang's eye popped open as she felt it's grip tighten around her neck. Immediately she felt her spine begin to bend in a way it definitely wasn't supposed to.
Fear took hold of Yang and she began flailing, but the Grimm remained unfazed. Her blows were weak and it knew she wouldn't last long.
As the Werewolf strangled Yang, Zwei launched himself forward, aiming to head the Grimm, but right as he was about to make contact, the Werewolf spun out of the way, and backhanded the dog with enough force to send him crashing into the far wall, breaking his aura.
The Werewolf watched Zwei struggling to get to his feet, then turned it's attention to the rest of the room at large. Scanning for the last standing opponent.
Suddenly, Cinder leapt onto it's back, holding on to her blades to stay on. The Werewolf began bucking and clawing at her, trying to dislodge her, but the girl held on tight, letting it wear itself out.
Annoyed, the beast leapt backwards, aiming to smash Cinder against the wall. She smirked to herself. Legend or not, it was still a Grimm, so it acted on instinct!
Right before impact, Cinder flipped over the Werewolf, letting it stun itself against the wall. She then fell gracefully in front of the beast, eyes narrowed as she drew a large shard of glass from her pant leg. Time seemed to freeze for a second as the combatants locked eyes, then with a triumphant smirk, Cinder stabbed the shard into the Werewolf's right eye.
"Rrroooaarr!" The Werewolf howled in pain, clawing at it's eye trying to get the shard out, but only driving it in deeper. As Cinder landed on all fours, the Grimm began swinging wildly around it, ripping huge gashes into the wall.
Cinder scrambled away as one of it's random strikes down towards her, but the Grimm gave chase, trying to find and kill her. Cinder ran putting distance between them, baiting it to charge at her, which it did.
Cinder stood her ground until the last second, before she flipped over the Werewolf, letting it smash through a support beam and then trip over a broken piece of furniture.
Planks of broken, flaming wood and tile rained for the ceiling. Both girls covered their heads trying to shield themselves from the debris, meanwhile the Werewolf was getting back up, unperturbed by the falling wood.
"This whole place is going to come down!" Cinder screamed. "We need to go, NOW!" Her companion didn't kneed telling twice. Yang grabbed Zwei from off the ground and bolted towards the stairs, Cinder right behind her.
However, the Werewolf turned towards the fleeing girls. Called by Cinder's warning and the scent of fear, it barreled after them, smashing through anything that got in its way.
"Aaarrhhh! Really!?" Cinder screamed in frustration. "Doesn't this thing give up!?" She got to the stairs and raced up them as the Grimm crashed into the wall at the bottom. However, it was recovered quickly and launched itself at Cinder as she reached the top.
Cinder grabbed the trap door and tried to slam it shut, but was stopped by the Werewolf's sheer bulk as it smashed itself against the door, hand sticking through the opening, clawing at the air trying to find its prey. The two tussled at the door. Cinder trying to close it while staying out of the Grimm's reach as it clawed at the edge. Even in this position it could take her entire foot off if it got ahold of her.
Suddenly, Yang ran forward and kicked the Grimm's hand, smashing its fingers against the side of the door. There was a howl of pain and the Grimm weakened for a split second, all the time Cinder needed to slam the door, breaking off two fingers.
Grabbing the nearby end table, Cinder and Yang threw it onto the trap door as the Grimm pounded on it trying to get out. Then both girls raced out of the house towards the tree line, ignoring the pounding on the trapdoor.
As they reached the forest, they found Ruby waiting for them, hiding behind a large rock. Her eyes brightened immediately upon seeing the two running towards her.
"What happened!?" Ruby asked as they reached her. "Did you get it!? Is it gone!? Are you oka-!?"
"Not now!" Cinder snapped, interrupting the younger girl. "We need to get out of here this instant!" Cinder didn't wait for Ruby to respond, tearing off into the woods, leaving the other girl standing in confusion.
"Wha-!?" Before she could finish, Yang grabbed her hand and pulled the younger girl close. "I'll explain everything later!" She yelled."Right now we need to go! Do you still have the map!?" No sooner than Ruby had finished nodding, Yang took off at full speed after Cinder, dragging Ruby along with one hand, and carrying Zwei with the other. The two raced after the older girl, trying their best to catch up.
Behind them, in the burning house. The chained up cellar doors were ripped off their hinges. The Werewolf of Patch lumbered out, pausing for a moment to taste the air. It was hot, but a breeze could be felt from somewhere to it's right. It wasted no time and following the cold air, it ran until it could no longer feel the flames that had surrounded it.
Once safe, it stopped and sniffed the air. It couldn't see, but it could still smell the fear in the air, the people it had just fought. With a deep snarl, it got on all fours and began following their trail.