-And now for the next part of the 'Mount Everett Arc' as it were in this story! A quick heads up though: once this chapter is up, I'll likely be taking a break from the frequent uploads so that I can get to work on creating the next chapters of the following arcs. This is also in addition to my other work I'm doing with my Skyrim story, and I'm likely to be very busy. Though I'll try and be as consistent with what I work on for the most part; I have faint mental roadmaps of what I want to have happen in each story, but first comes the important part of just putting it in.
Alright! Enough of listening to me ramble! Enjoy this latest chapter!-
"Hey, you feel that? We're slowing down," Eleanor said.
"Have we reached the end already? About time..." Angelita said as the car came to a complete stop.
"Maybe we have, maybe not, let's just be ready..." Gail said. The elevator car's doors slowly slid open, soon after followed by the secondary door on the other side of it. The quad of girls were immediately hit by an almost blinding light, forcing them to shield their eyes, "Gah! So bright...!"
"Ugh... yep, we're definitely outside..." Eleanor said. The four girls' eyes eventually adjusted to the change in light. Before them was a short passageway of rock and stone that fed its way to the bright light at the end. The ground before them also lay more sets of railway tracks that would lead the way for them as well. As they slowly made their way out of the darkness and towards the light, the brightness itself was not the only thing to greet them so suddenly.
Gail and Eleanor bore little to no reaction to it, but for Liz and Angelita, the difference was as as clear as hot and cold. Quite literally in this case.
"Oh my- brrr! So cold!" Liz said, quickly gripping the sides of her arms. Angelita did the same thing, her face furrowing as she too began to shiver. The other two girls, having walked a few feet forward already, were forced to stop and look back towards their comrades.
"Hey, what's wrong you two?" Eleanor asked.
"It's cold! What do you think?!" Liz exclaimed, "I h-hate the cold...!"
"Cold? Doesn't feel 'that' cold to me..." Gail shrugged, looking back out to the open world that greeted them. Sure enough, whips of wind could be seen carrying flakes of snow upon them, along with progressively thicker piles of snow coating the ground , "Kinda feels like how it does back home..."
"You've got a coat-thing on, of course you wouldn't be cold!" Liz protested further as she tried to take a step forward, "I'm a lizard faunus, so I'm not meant to be in places like this-"
"I g-get it! I'm cold too!" Angelita cut in, though barely able to keep the shivering and chattering of teeth out of her own voice, "L-Let's just get to, wherever that th-thing is, and get out of here...!"
Gail led the way by completely emerging from the darkened entryway of the tunnel leading to the elevator. Her steps she took were careful as she could manage; not only did she have weak legs in of themselves, but walking in snow would surely hinder walking of any normal person as well. The last thing she'd want was to trip and fall, or worse fall down and have her legs twisted in some way.
Slowly but surely bringing up the rear, Eleanor emerged while walking close by with Liz and Angelita. The latter two were positively shivering and trying desperately to ward off the stinging cold of the snowy winds. The taller Eleanor on the other hand stood a little calmer compared to them. The cold environment she could definitely feel, but cold just never seemed slow her down as it should. Her clothes she was wearing seemed to be keeping her warm enough; best to be thankful for that at least. But the other two...?
"Do you think... we should, 'huddle together'...?" she found herself asking. Her strange question earned her looks from both Liz and Angelita, which in turned caused her to flush profusely in embarrassment, "I-I mean, you know, to try and build up body heat between us...?"
"I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that," Liz off-handedly said, "And I'd rather not anyway, no offense."
"Y-Yeah, I'll be fine too. Just n-need to... get a hold of m-myself..." Angelita spoke, "But... thanks for the offer..."
"Well, I was just trying to help. If we're gonna be a team now, it'd make sense to do something like that...!" Eleanor said. The four girls rejoined into one group and completely stepped out of the darkened tunnel. The blinding light that had greeted them at first had faded by now, becoming a pleasant glow of mid-day. Thick, dark clouds above however prevented the sun itself from shining through upon them. The sun's rays definitely would be helpful at the moment, as the the icy winds were not making anything any warmer.
The terrain the four girls walked upon was more of a flatter ground, with snow blanketing the ground all over. The steps they took caused their feet to sink in up to at least half of their feet. The snow even covered over major portions of the railways that fed into the tunnel behind them, as well as a second set that ran parallel to it.
"There! There's another tunnel thing, right next to ours!" Eleanor pointed out behind them. Sure enough, a twin tunnel fed into the wall of the mountain, identical to the one that the four themselves had emerged from, "This one must be for that other elevator... I hope Arslan, Nadir and the others are alright down there..."
"Yeah, great; let's, let's just get to that... t-terminal thing, and get out of here already!" Angelita said.
"Yeah, I'd second that," Liz agreed, taking frantic steps further out along the more open area, "But... where would it be...?"
"This is just great... we have t-to find it...!? Somewhere out here?" Angelita complained in between her own shivering.
"We... we may not have to..." Gail suddenly said. The three girls' attention turned to her as she herself looked back at them, "I could get a better view of everything if I fly higher up!" Not waiting for any responses from the others, Gail's flight pack produced their wings that spread from her body. The three girls watched as she rose higher and higher into the air.
Icy wind continued to whip against Gail's skin even as she ascended. It did little to faze her however; being born and raised native to the cold of Mantle, her skin was 'thicker', or naturally resistant to cold. True what she was feeling right now was a tad colder than what she was used to, but It was by no means uncomfortable. These same icy winds still were nearly enough to hinder her sight however. Even with her aviator goggles in place, Gail nearly had trouble focusing upon the lay of solid land that stretched out beneath her. Or, as solid land as this could be considered. The terrain below was rocky and not the least bit flat, at least the part that was exposed from beneath the snow.
Gail rubbed the outer lenses of her goggles and searched again. This time however, something could be seen to her! There was a wall, which was actually just the mountain itself continuing to rise ever higher. Along that wall, a pathway could barely be identified running along the side of it, located a little north-northeast from their position. Looking out, the path lead out a little ways outward, at least until something was seen at the end of it. An expanse of land, stretching out from the wall itself, with little columns of some kind erected at one end. A small smile began to grow on the girl's face.
"That's it! It's gotta be it...!" she said to herself.
"Hey! What's going on up there...?!" Liz's voice could be heard below.
"Gail? What have you found...?" Eleanor also called out. Gail lowered her altitude back down to the other three girls, her feet just barely dragging the ground as she continued to hover in mid-air.
"I think I did find something!" she said, then pointed in the corresponding direction, "If we follow in that direction, along a thin passageway, I saw some large area, like it was attached to the rock wall!"
"You r-really found it?" Liz said in between her shivers.
"F-finally! Great! Let's get m-moving then!" Angelita said. She turned in the direction indicated, not even waiting for the others to do the same. The other three girls were quick to follow along with her though. Three sets of feet crunched in the snow, with Gail's being the only one not touching the ground.
Eleanor walked alongside everyone, keeping brusque pace. She did not feel like mentioning this to the other three, but her footwear she wore wasn't that best suited for snowy environments. Her feet and the sides of her ankles were starting to feel the sting of cold by now. Maybe this place Gail had described might have a little less snow upon it that she'd be forced to trek through. Her Ivorashu held at the ready in both hands. A thought suddenly occurred to her about how or if cold weather could adversely effect her weapon. She shook her head just as quickly to banish that thought, as there was a much more pressing matter she needed to focus on. This was a mountain they were walking on, and after all they had just went through 'inside' it, who know what exactly they may find out the outside...
"Hey Gail, when you were up there looking around... did you see anything else?" she asked the shorter human.
"Hm, no I don't think so..." Gail recalled, "Looks like this mountain runs even higher in the sky from the looks of it. Only thing I could see was this pathway that led to, well, what I hope is the terminal... I also don't remember seeing any Grimm from up there either."
"Oh, that's good, I was wondering about that actually," Eleanor said, "I think we've had enough of those things for one day."
"Agreed," Liz chimed in from in front of them without turning her head. They had begun to walk along the mountain's wall-side when Liz glanced over her shoulder, "How far do we have to go anyway?"
"I'd say... it looked to be about a five minute walk from where we were to get to the terminal," Gail recalled. A small grumbling noise could be heard from Angelita, but nothing more after that.
"You know, that is another thing I wondered though," Eleanor suddenly spoke up, "We were told this test was to determine our teams, but I wonder if they were also testing us on how we slay Grimm?"
"How could they though? Most Grimm we've seen and fought were 'inside' Mount Everett here," Gail said with a shrug, "Only way they could know is if they were there watching, or with some kind of cameras in there. But I didn't see anything..."
"Me neither," Liz said, "And I can see in the dark; I didn't see any cameras hidden in any of the dark, shadowy places in the mountain." Eleanor's mouth twitched as if she were to add something as well, but nothing came to mind. She simply sighed and shook her head.
"I guess that wouldn't really matter," she resigned.
"I'll just t-tell them what all Grimm I killed," Angelita's still shivering voice suddenly spoke up, "W-what reason would they have to doubt me?"
"They're teachers? At a highly prestigious school dedicated to the art of slaying Grimm!" Gail said, "I'd say they'd have more measures in place than simply 'taking a student's word for it'." Angelita turned and shot Gail a look as well. She opened her mouth to say something, but instead what exited was a small yelp. She had in fact stumbled from a misstep in the snowy ground she was walking on. To catch herself from falling flat onto her front, Angelita's hands shot forward and practically sunk into the snow.
Everyone else had jumped in alarm at this sudden action, then relaxed a little upon realizing it was a simple stumble. Eleanor was quick to move forward to lift the back-armored girl by the arm, "Whoa! Are you alright Angeli-"
"I'm fine, I'm FINE!" the other girl protested, squirming a little in Eleanor's grip. Once back on her feet she pulled herself free and shook all the loose snowflakes from her clothes. She also took time to blow into her bare hands to warm them up as best she could. During this whole time, she spared a glance up at Gail and Liz, who were both giving her looks, "W-what...?!"
"N-nothing! Nothing at all...!" Liz said, trying and failing to keep a small grin from forming on her face, "Except..."
"That little yelp you let out was... well, it was cute!" Gail on the other hand had a much bigger grin on her face as she spoke. Both girls were giggling now, and Angelita's face immediately flushed red. Though whether from embarrassment or from exposure to the cold at the moment or even both, it was rather had to tell.
"Sh-shut up! No it wasn't!" she cried out.
"Hey come on, that wasn't funny! Don't make fun of her like that!" Eleanor stepped in amidst the other two girls' laughter.
"Yeah, it wasn't!" Angelita added.
"I'm sorry! It wasn't that it was funny, I swear-!" Gail said in between her giggles, "It really was just adorable!"
"You guys...! We should just keep going, shouldn't we?" Eleanor urged.
"Y-yes, let's...!" Angelita again practically stomped off back along the path, this time taking extra care in where she took each step.
"Okay okay, let's keep going..." Liz shook her head and followed after her, Gail following immediately behind them as well. The path along the mountain's wall began to wind a little to the right as it curved along its length. There as little in the way of any guardrail on the left side of the pathway, which instinctively forced the four girls to stick as close to the wall side as they could. Well, the three girls that trekked on foot anyway; Gail and her flight pack hovered her more along the very center of the pathway. She did have to put a little more force into facing forward however, as the winds were blowing directly against her and the other three girls. It sometimes felt like an unlucky gust of wind, blown against them while they were off-balance, and they'd end up tripping or even slipping in a much worse way than Angelita herself had done earlier.
The air was still very uncomfortable for Liz. Icy winds whipping at her skin actually felt like they were stinging her. Even with the sleeves she wore, they barely did enough to ward off the extreme cold around her. Her tail behind her she could feel was no better off. In fact, it seemed like that body part of hers was suffering the worst; it was being dragged through the snow itself, in direct contact with the snow! Going to very cold places, this was not something that she was planning to do in her own immediate future, especially where her career was involved.
'I might have to still,' she thought, 'After all, how will I be a great Huntress like Mom if I let a bit of cold stop me?' She rubbed the sides of her arms with her hands again, a valiant effort to ward off the cold, 'Doesn't mean I have to like it though...'
The walk along the snowy path carried on for another minute or so before it began to change. The pathway itself began to widen a little even as it curved around the mountain wall. The four girls soon began to walk upon much wider ground. Snow still blanketed the ground, though in a much thinner sheet in comparison to before. As they took their first tentative steps upon this wider stretch of flatter land, they were quickly made aware that what they walked upon didn't feel like rock of the mountain itself. They could feel the faintest vibration of metal through their feet with every step.
"What is th-this?" Liz asked, "This doesn't feel like part of the mountain..."
"It's metal..." Gail said, tapping her own feet on the ground beneath her, "And look how wide it is; I bet this is some sort of... landing platform!"
Before them also lay their destination itself: three separate columns of stone, standing up and out through the ground and its sheet of snow. They were evenly spaced out on one edge of the platform's edge.
"F-finally! We made it!" Angelita said. Even in her freezing and shivering state, she rushed over to one of the control terminals; the closest one to her, at the corner edge. She pulled forth forth her stone fragment in her open hand, then looked back at the other three girls, "Hey! All of you g-get over here! Let's get this over with!"
"Alright alright!" Gail said.
"We're coming!" Liz said as well. All four girls were soon gathered around the one control terminal, eyeing it.
"Well, this is it," Gail said, pulling up her piece, "We just have to put ours together, place it into this... center..." her tone dropped and trailed off as she stared more at the terminal, "... Oh no..."
"What? What's wrong?" Liz asked.
"I don't think... I don't think this is the right one," Gail said, "Look, everyone- put our pieces together real quick?" She held her piece forward, and the other three did the same. The four pieces were rejoined into their singular circle shape, held up by a single hand of the four girls. However, looking down at the control terminal, there was in fact a mold-imprint where something was meant to fit into. The only problem was, the shape that was meant to go into this terminal was very much square shaped, not circular.
"Y-you've gotta... you've gotta be K-KIDDING ME!" Angelita practically yanked her piece back, through her movements were a little dulled and not as quick, "We pick the wrong one-?!"
"Hey hey, calm down!" Liz said, "We just got the wrong terminal, but it's fine!" She used a hand to indicate to the other control terminals nearby on the platform, "It's gotta be one of those terminals... over there! It's n-no big deal!"
"I know that! I-I just wanna be out of... this cold already!" Angelita rubbed her arms again.
"You think I don't?" Liz said, "We won't g-get anywhere by complaining! Let's just get on with this-!"
"Um, guys...?" Eleanor's voice suddenly was heard.
"What?" Angelita asked. Looking at the taller girl, the other three girls looked to her, only to find that she was not looking at them. Instead, she was looking behind them, as well as pointing at something in that direction as well. Their gazes followed where her finger pointed, and their hearts dropped a little in their chests at what they saw.
Along the mountain's wall were a few smaller but natural perches that seem to stretch out of the mountain itself. And on one of these perches something stood, poised menacingly. A black colored creature, with a more white colored head adorned with familiar blood red markings across it. Rows of razor sharp teeth lined its maw as it gazed down upon the four students. It could be seen standing upon two clawed legs, but the specific stance it held suggested that it was actually standing upon four legs total. To top it all off, a pair of massive black wings were held at its sides. Though they were furled, they nonetheless looked just as massive as compared to if they were spread.
The creature focused its eyes downward, where the four girls stood below and looking back up at it as well. Even from the distance between them, they could feel that this creature was just that much more huge in comparison to them.
"That... does not look good..." Liz said, "What... kinda Grimm is that...?!"
"I don't believe it... It's... It's a Sphinx!" Eleanor breathed. The Grimm above them, this 'Sphinx', shook its head a little, then focused its stare back down upon them, with a snarl exiting its mouth. It was then the girls noticed another, smaller white object emerging from behind the Sphinx's black body. Its tail reared itself up into view, then a maw of its own opened with a hiss as well, "F-father used to tell stories of Grimm like this. I never hoped to actually be seeing one of them...!"
"Well, now what do we do...?" Liz asked. Her answer came in the familiar sound of metallic creaking behind her. Angelita, Eleanor and Liz turned around to see Gail had sprout her metallic wings on her flight pack, her right hand gripping Cadenza's hilt.
"Should be pretty obvious," she said, a strange air of confidence filling her voice this time, "Looks like that thing can fly? Well, I'll just show it who's the better flyer!" She stuck her other hand towards the other three girls, presenting her stone fragment piece to them, "Here take this; the last thing I want is to lose it-!"
"H-Hold on. Don't think you should do that," Angelita suddenly said, earning looks of surprise form everyone. This earned her a greater look of shock from the nearly-airborne human.
"What are you talking about?" Gail challenged, "There isn't any running away, not when I can easily beat this thing in the air!"
"I'm not talking about r-running away!" Angelita protested, "At least, not entirely..." She glanced back up at the Sphinx, still gazing down upon them menacingly, but remaining stationary, "It's just... we don't need to do this if... if it's not necessary..."
"What do you mean, 'not necessary'...?" Gail asked with a tilted head. Her facial expression was not in as extreme shock as before, but with a mix of confusion as well.
"Just what I mean!" Angelita urged, "We... we don't need to kill this thing if it... it isn't stopping us, right...?" she glanced back up at the Sphinx again, "Yeah... it's not doing anything..."
"That's... that's too bold of an assumption..." Liz spoke up, looking to the back-armored girl, "Angelita, l-let's remind ourselves 'that' thing is a Grimm! All Grimm should be- no, they NEED to be destroyed, no matter the threat they pose!" Before she let Angelita get a word in, Liz spun her gaze to look at Gail, "And you! You're planning to just fly around with that thing up there on your own?! You c-could never take it down on your own; you'd need help!" Gail flashed the faunus a glare of her own.
"Don't you assume anything I can and can't do!" she argued, "First you accuse me of assumptions to other people, now you're doing the same to me!"
"That's not what I mean and you know it! Typical human...!" Liz shot back, "Even you have to know when you're out of your depth?"
"Guys please! This is no time for arguing...!" Eleanor tried to step in, but to no avail. The other three girls were still locked in heated argument with each other, completely ignoring her plea. She nervously glanced back up at the Sphinx Grimm above them. Her eyes widened as she noticed the creature was starting to rear itself up, projecting its front outward and appearing larger than usual.
"An airship has to 'fly' to get here too! Just like that thing can!" Liz gestured a hand towards the Sphinx without actually turning her head, "You ever think about that?!"
"I am aware that it can fly! All the more reason it needs to be killed!" Gail exclaimed. Before any further input could be thrown out, a sound practically ripped through the air. All four girls were caught off guard by this sudden screeching noise being carried on the wind. Their eyes darted back up to see that the Sphinx itself had let out an a massive roar from its razor maw. At the same time, two massive wings had spread out wide from its back, dramatically increasing its size by sheer wingspan alone.
"Dargh!" Gail winced from the screech. She was far away and well below the creature, yet the noise alone felt no less potent than if she were right next to the Grimm, "Well there's your answer! It's definitely coming towards us now!" She flicked her left wrist up and tossed her stone fragment, straight into the hands of Eleanor as she stumbled to catch and contain it. Before the latter could protest, Gail's Cadenza blade burst into form, and her flight pack had already powered up, causing her to levitate higher, "Hold on to that piece, Eleanor; I'm coming back for it..."
"Gail wait!" the taller girl called after her, "You seriously can't go... after..." It was too late, as Gail Nacht was already flying straight up to meet the Sphinx in the air.
"This is not good. This is really not good!" Professor Celsius struggled to keep his calm demeanor, even in light of the situation. The teachers had witnessed the entire event played out via viewing monitors before them. All of them had gotten a solid look at the Sphinx Grimm they had identified on one of the screens. It was found on the screen that fed to the airship platform camera, where four of the students had already arrived at by now.
In the midst of their bickering, the Sphinx had let out a roar that filled the air. But this was exactly the sort of thing that Professor Celsius had feared.
"A Sphinx Grimm? Out here...?" Professor Newton said, not taking his eyes off of the monitor, yet leaning back in his chair, "I believe that kind of Grimm is categorized at... B Rank."
"Which only confirms the worst..." Kelvin slowly spoke, before turning to exit the command area, "Heath, remain here and continue to monitor the exam!" Without waiting to hear any reply from the glasses-wearing professor, the man practically rushed towards the stationary transports parked nearby. Professor Cypress and Leonardo quickly rushed after him as well.
"Is this really that bad though, Kelvin?" the woman asked him, "Something that would shake even you to your core?"
"This is no time for your usual jests, Venus!" Professor Celsius spun around and exclaimed, "Even you have to know about B Ranked Grimm; they can cause mid to severe destruction to settlements, but especially if they're in groups! And the thing about the Sphinx is that it rallies other aerial Grimm!" Following his explanation, Venus' playful smirk slowly turned into a frown of mild concern.
"Wait, they can actually do that?"
"Of course," Kelvin said, turning back towards the transport, "Which is why we must intervene-"
"No." Professor Celsius spun back around and shot Lionheart a wide-eyed look of shock. Professor Cypress also gave him a look of confusion, but to a lesser degree than her colleague, "We... we shouldn't do this."
"Headmaster...? Leonardo," Professor Celsius said in complete disbelief, "You're not serious; If that Grimm up there is not dealt with immediately, then Mistral itself could be in serious danger!"
"I am well aware of the stakes here, Kelvin," Lionheart said, sparing a glance up the mountain at where the four students and the Sphinx likely were located at, "And I'm also aware that this is in fact a test. A test for our students, who have come here to this school to do this very thing." He could see the look on Professor Celsius' face; the man was frowning at what he was saying, but apart from gritted teeth, he was not saying anything to countermand his argument. His fist was gripped tightly at his side, knuckles turning white from how hard he must have been gripping. Leonardo again placed a comforting hand on Kelvin's shoulder to calm him down, "You think I'm suggesting we don't remain on standby? Perish the thought! We'll be here, ready to move and destroy that Grimm 'if' the worst comes to pass. But until then... let's allow our students prove themselves..." Kelvin's fist finally relaxed itself.
"That's some faith you have in your soon-to-be students, isn't it Headmaster?" Professor Cypress spoke to the faunus, "Well, if you're sure..."
"And we will be on standby...?" Professor Celsius questioned, to which Lionheart quickly nodded, "Fine. But I want us to still be in close proximity, ready to move as necessary!"
"By all means," Lionheart conceded. With a gesture of his own hand, he led the way to allow his fellow teachers onto the transport, himself quickly following behind. Once all three were inside, the transport slowly lifted off of the ground with a gentle hum of the engines. The small but fast transport quickly began its aerial ascent up the mountain at a rising angle.
"Alright you, here I am! So bring it on!" Gail openly declared, letting her voice carry across the winds. She twirled Cadenza in her hand in a flourishing motion, letting the tonal sounds of the blade carry even more tunes upon the wind. She maintained her hardened stare upon her opponent. The Sphinx Grimm was staring completely at her now, legs bent as if it were rearing down to pounce and accept her challenge.
All at once, the challenge was met, as both the Sphinx and then Gail flew towards each other at high speeds.
Down below on the ground, the other three girls were left to stand and watch, each one with a different extreme expression on their face.
"Gail! Get down here!" Liz tried to call out, "Bring it down here so we can help out too!" The outside of her body remained cold, but Liz could swear she could feel her blood getting a little warmer as she fumed. She watched as Gail's form and the Sphinx began to zip and dart all around each other. Realizing she was not getting through, Liz groaned in exasperation, even throwing up her hands in frustration as she turned back around, "Why will she not listen?!"
"Maybe she can't hear us!" Eleanor said.
"It doesn't matter now," Angelita said, "We can't stand around either- give me all the stone pieces." She held out her hands expectedly to the other two girls.
"Huh? Why?"
"Why do you think?! To call in that airship!" Angelita called out while pointing back to the terminal, "There's no reason why we can't summon that thing anyway. It'll take a while to get here too, wouldn't it?"
"But... but what about Gail...?"
"What about her? She chose to do that!" Angelita waved her hand dismissively, "She might even keep that thing distracted..."
"Angelita..." Liz spoke slowly and in a low tone. She met the back-armored girl's glare with a glare of her own, "I... stupid as what she's doing now, I agree with her. We have to kill that Sphinx. That also means we can't risk an airship coming in and basically putting a big target on it! We just need to wait until 'after' it's dead before calling for pick up!"
"No...! This is..." Frustration and anger built up within Angelita. Before her, the unfaltering faces of the other two girls looked back at her. Liz looked at her with a face of glaring determination, while Eleanor looked at her with silent pleading. This wasn't right, this... 'resistance', to a core principle that she was taught to live by. Something that deviation from her own part had costed her dearly, "We only do what is necessary! That's the way I lived in the Great Animan Desert!"
"Well guess what? This isn't the Great Animan Desert! This is Mistral!" Liz exclaimed, her very eyes widening as well, "And here in Mistral, Grimm are monsters that ALL need to be destroyed! Because if they aren't, then they will surely kill us and not even think twice about it!"
"Angelita... she is right," Eleanor spoke, much softer in comparison, "They're all right. We've all come here to kill Grimm for the threat that they pose to us. And they have posed big threats to us before, I should know..." Liz spared a quick glance at Eleanor before looking back at Angelita. The back armored girl lowered her head so that her eyes could not be seen. She felt the heavy feeling well up hard within her being with her very core beliefs being challenged. Worse still, as being the only one with these opinions on how to proceed, she only felt all the more alone in this. Her right hand un-holstered Anky from her waist and held it at the shaft. She gripped it so hard the whites of her knuckles could be seen through the red of the cold that had been settling on it.
Slowly, she looked back up at the faunus girl with resignation, "Fine... I'll kill the Sphinx with you... Don't make me regret this..."
"About time...!" Liz said, a smile appearing on her face, "Now then, what are those two doing up there...?"
"I don't know if my Ivorashu can reach the Sphinx at that height..." Eleanor lifted her axe up and aimed it up towards the sky, "I can try..."
Up in the air, Gail shot through the air, wind and snowflakes whipping at her skin. Over the familiar sounds of her flight pack hum, she could hear the sounds of the Sphinx making those grunting noises behind her as it pursued her. Getting in close to this thing has been a little more... tricky, than she was caring to admit. This Grimm obviously was good at flight, she'd give it that.
"I just gotta get in close and under its guard, somehow..." she said to herself, "Here I go-!"
She had led the Sphinx on a more or less straightforward flight path, knowing it was following behind her. Suddenly, Gail reangled herself and spun herself completely 180 degrees. The Sphinx was now directly in front of her, completely undeterred by this sudden action on her part. Gail was also undeterred by the threatening visage of this dark monster looming towards her. She leaned herself forward and shot back through the air and towards the Sphinx. She held Cadenza in her grip and let it trail behind her, the tonal notes resonating upon the wind with the speed she traveled at.
The Sphinx was quickly upon her, front claws barred and raised up to completely rip her to shreds. With ease, Gail spun herself in a corkscrew to narrowly miss them while also keeping her forward momentum. She stopped spinning to reassess her positioning; in that moment, she was alongside the Sphinx's unguarded upper back. A smile graced her lips as her arm cocked back to strike at the fleshy blackness of-
A hissing sound suddenly filled her ears, causing Gail to snap her head up in alarm. She had mere moments to react as she caught sight of the white appendage with teeth suddenly lurch itself towards her. Her flight pack burst forth more power to propel her out of harm's way. Once clear, she looked back to see what had just happened. The tail! This creature had a tail part of it that was, well, its own creature! How could she have forgotten about that?!
"Stupid stupid STUPID!" the airborne girl berated herself. By now the Sphinx had reoriented itself in midair with massive flaps of its wings. Both its frontal head and its snake-like head gazed upon her with glowing, blood-red eyes.
A small sound similar to thunder suddenly rang out through the air. The Sphinx lurched itself to the side as something almost struck it from underneath. Gail too shook her head, this sudden mild interference bringing her back to the world around her. She looked down to what had essentially just shot up at the Sphinx, and was instantly reminded of the other three girls down below. The stood there, staring straight up at her and the massive Grimm, while it appeared that Eleanor was aiming her big weapon straight up at the Grimm. She was trying to get shots in?
"As if I'm not able to kill this thing myself, up here in the air...!" Gail gripped Cadenza's hilt tighter with each word, "It's not true! I've got this! I'll show them!" Quickly wanting to take advantage of the Sphinx's momentary distraction, Gail swooped forward again. This time she'd try a bit of a different approach. That tail was small, but surprisingly nimble. In comparison the primary head had slightly slower reaction speed. She could strike it from the front as fast as she could!
The Sphinx swiped at her with one of its claws, which she easily deflected with Cadenza, followed by another swipe with its other claw. It then opened its teeth-filled maw and lunged straight forward to bite her, causing her to fly straight up to avoid it. From her new position and angle, Gail had a clear shot at the Sphinx's exposed neck!
"There! Now's my chance-!" She made haste to stab Cadenza's blade tip straight down at the black of the Grimm's body. The blade whistled a tune as it rushed through the air, almost eager to pierce this rival avian's body.
Her blade arm jolted to a stop, and Gail shot her head up in alarm. That damned tail! Instead of striking at her, it had struck at Cadenza itself, effectively holding it in place with its teeth! Gail pulled and tugged her arm as hard as she could, but the sentient appendage of the Grimm was unyielding in its grip. In fact, it pulled hard backward, thus dragging Gail along with it!
The airborne girl yelped in surprise and shock as she was pulled along. At the same time, the notes that Cadenza produced were akin to sour yellow notes as well somehow. Gail's entire world jerked every direction, completely disorienting her.
Finally, in an effort to free herself, Gail deactivated the blade section of Cadenza, completely freeing herself. Unfortunately, the tail was still in the process of throwing her about. She thus found herself spinning and flying in some direction, the world around her spinning about. Her flight pack was hard pressed to counter the harsh movements in return.
The world finally stood still around her. Gail shook her head and tried to get her bearings again. Had she just been... 'thrown'? Thrown around by a Grimm? Like some ragdoll?! The humiliation!
She had no time to think on those feelings, as the familiar form of the Sphinx was seen flapping back towards her at high speed. This time, Gail spun the opposite in mid-air rather than forward to attack it again. She had to put some distance between herself and it, which unfortunately meant she was the prey of a chase. The icy wind whipped against her face as she propelled herself through the air. Of course, the extreme cold such as this she was more than used to. It was a familiar feeling, one that reminded of her of home, in Mantle.
In the midst of her flight, Gail found herself frowning as memories also came up of another home-related event. That night right before she would be setting off for Mistral, she'd been involved in a similar altercation. One that involved her dogfighting against aerial Grimm for airborne supremacy.
A fight that she herself had not won.
She had come under attack herself by that pack of Griffon infants that night, when she and her brother were out late. Now that she thought about it, that night's events were playing out somewhat similarly to right now, in this moment. Both involving Grimm that were dangerously close to getting the better of her, in the place that was supposed to be her domain.
'What's going on with me? I'm supposed to be the better flyer!' she thought angrily to herself as she flew forward. Once or twice she spared a glance behind her, just to make sure the Sphinx was in fact still chasing her and not having already caught her, 'Why do I keep messing up, especially at the worst moments...?! What am I doing wrong...?'
Suddenly, as if her very instincts were screaming at her, Gail shot a look back over her shoulder. Her heart dropped a little as she saw the monstrous form of the Sphinx suddenly shoot itself a little closer towards her in mid-air, trying to catch her off-guard. With a yelp, Gail curled herself forward and looped downward in the air to propel herself backwards. The sound of rocks being busted apart could be heard, and Gail didn't even need to turn around to know that the Sphinx had crashed into the mountain wall she had flown away from. The question however was did that stop it?
A more cautious look over her shoulder told her the Sphinx monster had merely swiped hard at the wall, taking a chunk of it loose, and was back on course to following her.
Gail proceeded to fly again, a new course planned. Before her was the flattened arena of the dropship platform; a massive expanse of metal that stretched out long and wide to accommodate not only airships, but multiple ones, to land there at once. Gail could also see that the other three girls were now directly before her as she zoomed closer to them.
She felt a small ping of pain in her heart. It wasn't physical pain, but pain to her very ego. Her own flight superiority was proving to be ineffective against a Grimm nearly five times her size! In direct contrast, these other three girls had definitely proven their worth when it came to Grimm slaying. She'd seen how they fought, how effective they can be. Gail clenched her eyes and teeth as she fought back a feeling of personal despair within her; just this once, her pride she would have to swallow.
"Here I come! I'll bring it to you...!" she called out in front of her. Behind her the Sphinx let out a screech of its own, as if giving its own twisted reply to her openly declared plan. With its massive wings flapping, it swooped in and followed the low flying path that Gail and her unflapping wings led it along. The rush of air it created kicked up massive amounts of fallen snow that rained out behind it like a miniature snowfall.
"About time!" Liz said, until her eyes widened a little as she seemed to just register what was relayed to her and the other two, "Whoa- hey wait! Maybe slow down a bit-!"
"I g-got an idea-!" Angelita declared despite her teeth still chattering from the cold. She crouched down into her ball form and let her Derma cover her entire body. As a massive ball of yellow metal, it rolled in place on the ground, kicking up even more snowflakes that flew out behind it. Eleanor even had to jump to the side to avoid getting sprayed by it herself. Angelita's ball form suddenly shot out towards the curved wall that was connected to the metal platform. With its spin and forward-travelling momentum, it rolled up and along the wall in the direction of Gail and the Sphinx.
"What the heck...?" Liz spoke. She and Eleanor were left to watch in wonder as to what exactly the shorter haired girl was planning.
By now Gail and the Sphinx were close to meeting the three with the speed they were traveling at themselves. As Gail herself rushed past Liz and Eleanor, she corkscrewed in place to avoid her wings unintentionally clipping them. Directly behind her came the Sphinx, but Angelita was already in motion.
In one swift movement, her ball form bounced itself off of a stretch of rock from the wall itself, its arc allowing her to travel straight outward. Her new path now took her directly on an intercept course with the front of the Sphinx. The massive Grimm just as well was not prepared for this sudden, unexpected hinderance to its own flight path, and took the full force of Angelita's ball form straight to its head. It grunted in pain as its head was smacked to the side, while its own body was knocked a little to the side. Angelita herself uncurled herself from her ball-form in mid-air with the intent of landing straight down on the ground-
-and promptly proceeded to slip upon the ice and fall straight on her stomach. She gave a grunt of pain and annoyance at this sudden inconvenience. She had already embarrassed herself by slipping on the ice ground once before, there was no way she could let this happen to her again! There was also the possibility that the other three girls had seen her slip up, quite literally! She quickly pulled herself to her feet, reoriented herself, and spun back to charge at where the Sphinx would definitely be.
"Amazing! Angelita, you knocked that thing straight out of-!" Liz started to congratulate, until she realized the target Grimm itself was now on a direct course to crash down upon where she and Eleanor were standing, "Whoa! Look out-!" Thinking quickly, she pointed both of her Kaginawa Tsume directly behind her, shot them forward to dig into the ground, and pulled herself along with them, safely out of harm's way.
Eleanor on the other hand, had a different form of evasion in mind.
'This is a good chance now,' she thought, gripping her Ivorashu, 'This thing was giving Gail a hard time in the air, and I could barely get a hit in on it myself! But now...!'
The Sphinx itself came crashing to the ground, but continuing to slide along the ice-covered metal platform. Eleanor herself was already moving, but by rushing towards the Sphinx's body, and running up along its body parts. Once she had reached the 'summit' of the creature, she leapt into the air, spinning in place with the Ivorashu's blade held outward, and cleaved as hard as she could. She felt resistance at the tip of the weapon, but nonetheless it chopped clean through the Sphinx's wing, completely severing it from the main body.
The Grimm let out a howl of pain, even in the midst of its forward sliding motion upon the ground. The noise came in very distorted through Eleanor's ears due to her mid-air spinning, but it was still all the satisfying to hear. Her quick thinking had worked, and the Sphinx was completely grounded-!
"Eleanor look out!"
She heard Angelita's voice, but Eleanor could already see the threat. The long, snake-like form of the Sphinx's tail suddenly came lashing out towards her, rows of miniature yet equally sharpened teeth exposed. The tall girl had mere moments to react by holding up Ivorashu and letting the Grimm's sentient appendage snap at the very center of Ivorashu's shaft. Eleanor had by now landed back on the ground, nearly slipping upon the ice herself, but now she was at risk of slipping from the forward jerking motions of this body part pulling at her and her weapon! She gritted her teeth as she struggled to hold her ground steady, as well as holding on to her weapon to not lose it.
"Grrr, let go...!" she cried out, trying to free herself from the bite-grip. In front of her, the beady, red-glowing eyes of the snake-tail were unrelenting; staring back at her, unblinking, and almost as if they were taunting her. No matter how much she struggled, its bite would not yield any.
"I gotcha now-!" the voice of Gail from off to the side called out. Eleanor's head snapped over to see her incoming, as she was almost certain she could see the snake-tail's eyes doing the same thing. Gail had come back around and was flying straight towards Eleanor and the Grimm body part. Cadenza's blade was materialized again and pointed straight at the creature's appendage. She quickly closed the distance and pierced the blade clean through the tail, right behind its 'neck', and completely emerged from the other end.
Despite being prone and struggling to pull itself upright, the Sphinx's main head let out yet another growl of pain. In addition, the sentient snake-tail let out a hiss of pain that was no doubt greater than its carrier's. Its maw was forced open, and Eleanor had jerked herself away from its grip, only to almost lose her footing from slipping on the icy ground.
Gail was still hovering mid-air, except this time she was much more in control of herself. The snake-tail was trying to thrash itself about in a vain attempt to free itself, but she was not going to let it go. Every way it tried to turn, Gail forced her blade in the opposite direction.
From behind her, Liz jumped up to above the Sphinx's body level. Her Kaginawa Tsume were brandished in both hands, and a hardened facial expression. She no longer felt the cold around her, or rather she did, but was absolutely not letting it hinder her anymore. She leapt straight forward, with both of her clawed weapons held to her side, and slashed them both across with as much strength as she could muster. The Kaginawa Tsume easily ripped straight through the snake-tail and severed it too from the main body. With her forward momentum maintained, Liz shot one of her Kaginawa Tsume to the side and pulled herself away.
Gail quickly felt a release of pressure within her arms. From below she had caught the sight of both Liz careening forward underneath, those claws of hers swiping across, and the next thing she knew, this Sphinx appendage she had stabbed had ceased its movements entirely! Gail was then free to fly straight up and away from the Sphinx's main thrashing body. Cadenza's notes it produced became a bit muddled from the piece of Grimm flesh still attached to it. However, the tonality rang purer as the tail slid off completely in the air, while simultaneously disintegrating into black specks.
The Sphinx itself was positively clawing at the icy ground as hard as it could, in anger, pain, and an attempt to keep itself steady upon the slippery ground. Before it, the four girls one by one rejoined each other side by side; Gail lowered herself to hovering just above the ground. Angelita's ball form unfurled itself to allow her body and legs to stand up and next to her. Liz's Kaginawa Tsume shot out to dig into the icy ground and pull herself right next to her. And Eleanor had leaped out and landed on both feet with a thud, her Ivorashu blade digging into the ground in front of her to steady herself. The four girls stood next to each other, weapons held firmly in hand and at the ready, each one sporting varying looks. The Sphinx returned their glares with a small, yet powerful roar of its own in return.
"Heh, nice work, everyone!" Gail spoke with a glance to the side at the other three, "We've managed to wound this thing! All of us did!" It was true; the Sphinx Grimm before them stood tall and defiant, but its injuries were plain to see. A small stump at its haunches where its snake-tail used to be wiggled a little, and the four could see from its stance that it was tucking itself more on its right side to try and conceal its obvious missing wing. Its remaining wing on its left side curled back into itself, with a small twitch here and there. Even after the Grimm let out its roar, its teeth could be seen chattering ever so slightly as its maw closed.
"Yeah, even you yourself managed to," Liz snidely remarked, which earned her a flustered look from Gail. The faunus shook her head, "Still, you are right; we've hurt this thing pretty bad so far. We've even taken out its ability to fly! Should make things a little easier, right...?"
"I sure hope so- wait, what..." Eleanor started, but stopped when she noticed something. The other three girls noticed it too: a glowing orange light from within the Sphinx's closed maw, glowing ever brighter!
"Look out! It's gonna-!"
"I got this!" Liz was quick to sudden leap forward in front of the other three girls. In a single motion, the Sphinx let a fireball burst forth from its mouth, while Liz herself swiped the flats of both of her palms straight out and away from each other in front of her, as wide as they would reach. The faunus groaned a little as she felt a little more energy and force be put into her Semblance. In a flash, a transparent green field, spanning the length of where she spread her hands, materialized in front of her. It covered the entire length of where the girls behind her stood, ensuring they were all 'protected'. The fireball fell down upon her and her Semblance projection; time to see if it worked...!
The effect was immediate: the fireball itself literally bounced off of the clear, yet very solid projection her her Scaleshield. The projectile was then left to fly out and into the sky on its new altered course. Unfortunately, the Scaleshield itself took heavy amounts of cracks upon initial impact, followed quickly by completely shattering to pieces. Liz herself found herself stumbling backwards, though mostly in surprise than anything else. That was the first time that had ever happened after all! How could she have known that would happen?!
She herself did not fall to the icy ground, as she felt herself being caught and supported by two sets of arms behind her.
"Unbelievable!" the surprised voice of Angelita of all people exclaimed, "That's your Semblance?!"
"Yeah- Scaleshield," Liz quickly said, balancing herself back on her feet again, "Though I've never had it crack before..."
"Still, to keep something protected... I can respect that," Angelita added. She and the others looked back at the Sphinx, just in time to watch as it raised one of its front paws up to swipe at them! This time the four of them chose to scatter apart to avoid the clawed strike.
Having leaped backwards to avoid the strike herself, Eleanor was now in a perfect position for a counterattack! She quickly raised her Ivorashu up and over her head, then brought it down as hard as she could upon the Grimm body part. The blade sunk into the black flesh well enough, about an inch deep, but no further. In fact, this time when the Sphinx attempted to swipe its paw the other direction to dislodge her, Eleanor planted her feet and held her ground as tight as she could. Her upper muscles screamed in pain from the force of the Sphinx and its arm, while her lower muscles strained to maintain her planted position. She would not be tossed around this time by this creature, no way!
With a massive growl, the Sphinx suddenly spread forth its sole wing, bearing it out before the four girls. It began to slowly flap it back and forth, letting the wingbeat create both hard bursts of wind against them, as well as pulling against Eleanor to free itself from her.
"It's other wing! We've gotta deal with it...!" Liz called out from the side. She aimed one of her Kaginawa Tsume at it, and shot her weapon out. The claws dug into the black flesh of the wing with ease. It didn't stop the flapping of the wing entirely, but it did weaken the strength of the flaps a great deal, even when Liz herself herself pulled back to apply pressure of her own. The Sphinx now yelped in discomfort at feeling pressure pulling at it from two, very unnatural angles for it. In retaliation, it raised its other front leg and clawed paw up to swipe down upon the tall girl standing directly in front of it.
Angelita was quick to act. She rushed in on her feet and smacked the paw with the blunt end of Anky as hard as she could. The resulting impact yielded a satisfying sound of something within the creature cracking, combined with the grunt of pain it produced as well. But Angelita was not done. She quickly flipped her hold on Anky so that she held one of its blunt handles, now pointing its shotgun barrel shaft end directly at the vulnerable body part. With a blast, the body part was knocked away even further, back onto the icy ground.
The obstacle that was the clawed leg removed, Gail herself rushed in. She hovered on her flight pack over the leg until she was now before the bound wing. It was still held in a tight and taut hold, courtesy of Liz. She spun Cadenza in a flourishing motion, letting the notes it produced fill the air, then gripped its handle with both hands to slice it downward as hard as she could.
The effect was a little more resistant compared to Eleanor's strike upon the opposite wing, but Cadenza did its job nonetheless. The clear blade sheared through the base of connection that held the wing to the main body within seconds. Another mighty roar of pain burst from the Sphinx's mouth in response. Liz also pulled hard to through the now disintegrating black wing away, then recalled that Kaginawa Tsume back to its original position atop her fist.
With Eleanor, the strength of the Sphinx lifting its leg was finally getting a little too much for her to hold down herself. Thinking quickly, she quickly brought Ivorashu's blade up and free of the leg, completely freeing it. She then spun herself in place and out of the way to avoid the sideways swipe the Sphinx tried to throw at her. She steadied herself in place again and was immediately met with the front head of the Sphinx attempting to lunge in and snap at her with its teeth. Eleanor gripped both hands on the Ivorashu and brought it down to the side with as much strength as she could muster. What sounded like bones cracking could be heard as she was certain the Ivorashu had struck true. Though the Sphinx's head was not cleaved through completely, a significant cut through the the armored white of its head carapace could now be seen, directly under its left eye and stretching down across its snout.
"So this is how we beat this thing?" Liz called out from the side, "We just keep chopping off parts of it off, piece by piece?!"
"It's really tough though! It just took a direct slash from Ivorashu to its face, and its still alive!" Eleanor reported.
"You been aiming for the black parts of-" Gail started, until a rush of motion stopped her. In front of all of them, the Sphinx suddenly let out a snarl. The girls prepared themselves for another attack from it, but were surprised as the creature did not do that. Instead, it actually rushed past and away from them, almost as if it were... retreating?
The four girls watched it as the Sphinx positively bounded across the ice-sheeted metal platform. Each step it took sent heavy tremors through the ground, as well as a scratching sound from its claws digging in to keep itself from slipping as well. The Grimm ran nearly the length of the platform before stopping, right next to the edge with the sheer drop directly behind it. Now that they had a clearer view, they could see the extent of the damage the four of them had managed to inflict upon it. A number of scratches upon its white head plate and front legs, and the wiggling stumps of its missing wings and tail. In fact, the Grimm itself even seemed to be panting heavily, whether from exhaustion or from toll being taken upon its body, neither could say.
"It just... ran away?" Angelita asked.
"That can't be right, what's it doing...?" Gail added. Her answer came in the form of the Sphinx cocking its head back, as opposed to bowing it down. The one similarity though with the familiar orange glow from behind its teeth, "It's... it's gonna shoot that fire at us again! Liz, can you use your Semblance to shield us again?!"
"I... I don't think so..." Liz said with worry in her voice, "I p-put extra strength into that last one, and now I feel really drained from doing it! No way I could do it again just as strong...!"
"Blast it! What do we... Um..." Gail frantically thought. The Grimm was a considerable distance away from them that they'd never be able to reach it before it shot its fireball at them. And the advantage of accuracy was on its side. Taking a direct hit from a blast like that was not an option; Gail had simply felt the heat singe her from the first fireball, and that one had been deflected! But what could they all...?
"Shoot it!" she suddenly cried out. The other three spared her a quick glance, "Quick! Shoot it with your weapons before it shoots at us!" Eleanor was the first to move to action, then Angelita and Liz. The back armored girl knew in her head that Anky's shots might not be as effective from a distance, but chose not to mention that within the figurative heat of the moment. The three other girls had their various weapons aimed straight towards the Sphinx, and let their corresponding explosions of gunshots fill the air.
The effect was almost immediate: Eleanor's round from Ivorashu traveled the fastest and struck the creature square in the upper shoulder. Angelita's Anky rounds peppered the Grimm's body along its left side, though mostly its left front leg. Liz's rounds from Kaginawa Tsume ended up ricocheting off of the white carapace of its head, with some of them managing to pierce the black, fleshy sections. Once the shots had fired, the four girls could hear the noise coming from the Sphinx as more strangled sounding. The glowing orange from within its mouth slowly faded as well. It lowered its head back so that it was looking straight at them again. This time however, its stance was much more dazed, weakened, as if struggling to maintain its posture. They'd done it! They had both stopped it from shooting a fireball at them and wounded it even further, all at once!
"Awesome!" Liz said with a smile.
"Come on, girls! Let's finish this thing off, for good this time!" Gail declared. The other three needed no further prompt from her, as they all rushed forward in various ways. Gail was flying close to ground level herself, Angelita had resumed her ball form and was rolling straight forward, while Liz and Eleanor were the only two rushing forward using their feet. In that moment, neither girl could feel the cold around them from the mountain. Instead, their very blood seemed to run hot with dreams of victory. All that was left was one last obstacle...
Liz and Eleanor had reached the Sphinx first, in spite of the advanced ways the other two girls had in terms of movement. The human girl took the left side and the faunus took the right; both of them slashed their weapons as hard as they could at the creature's front legs. From the strength they put into their attack, small gases of black quickly leaked from the laceration points. The Sphinx was forced in an unnatural position of its front legs stretched out and away from its body, thus curling the front of its body down even lower. Its head and lengthened neck were now level with the girls themselves.
Angelita arrived next. Her rolling form positively barreled forward and smacked the head as hard as it could. This time, the strength of the strike itself actually managed to break and shatter some of the Sphinx's teeth from its mouth. Her unfurling ball formed popped her backward and she prepared to land squarely back on the icy ground, and actually stick her landing this time! The Sphinx on the other hand was not getting anything nearly as graceful. The very energy seemed to dwindle from within it as it rose on its hind legs and threatened to fall backwards.
"Time to end this..." Gail said. Her Cadenza in hand and tip facing out and forward, her flight pack shot her out and straight towards the Sphinx. Her target was what she had been aiming for before: its now completely vulnerable neck. And Cadenza found its mark by sliding in with ease, all the way up to the hilt's base. Gail kept a tight grip on her weapon, even twisting it for good measure. Each pained sound that managed to burst from the Sphinx's dying mouth only seemed to fuel her determination even further. Perhaps this thing had been the better avian, but she was the one winning this battle between them! Wait, no, that wasn't right-
Her, and her team...
A quick glance out of the corner of her eye and she again saw the other girls. The three other girls whom now... she would definitely be teammates with. There had been issues with them, sure, but in the end, they had managed to pull through where it counted. All of them did. And now, together, they had managed to slay one of the biggest Grimm she had ever laid eyes on in recent years!
Speaking of said Grimm, the now dying body was beginning its freefall backwards and over the metal platform's edge. She could even hear the cries of the other three reminding her that she was in fact at risk of joining the Sphinx in its fall. She looked back down at not only her Cadenza still buried up to the hilt in the Sphinx's neck, but also at her own legs. Her legs she'd realized were planted and squatted up against the Grimm's body. She felt a feeling within her self, an urge to want to do something that she knew she'd probably end up regretting. Her legs were weakened appendages, and there was little need to risk breaking them with this impulsive action, but...
In that moment, Gail Nacht did not care.
She gritted her teeth, yanked her arm, and kicked her legs as hard as she could. Cadenza's blade ripped from the Sphinx's neck, a trio of notes filling the air as it met the wind again. The lifeless, disintegrating body of the Sphinx began to fall straight down into the more fog-concealing sections of the mountain below, never to be seen again. Gail felt an immediate burning of muscles in her lower limbs and she almost screamed in pain. In fact, the pain she felt within her legs felt so fiery that she had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from crying out. Granted there was pain, even after she'd freed herself and was now hovering in mid-air, but there was also a feeling of... euphoria. She felt a huge rush along with the pain. She had just done the impossible; multiple impossibles actually! They said she could never probably prove herself as a capable huntress following her accident. They said her legs would remain weakened and 'crippled' for a long time. And they also said a Sphinx could never be taken down by someone of her skill level.
In just one day, she had done all of that, and then some.
Eleanor, Angelita, and Liz carefully peered over the edge of the metal platform, careful not to fall down themselves. They had seen both Gail and the Sphinx go over, but what had happened to...
Gail Nacht's flying form emerged up and before them, much to their surprise and delight.
"Gail! You're still alive!" Eleanor said. The dark blue haired girl couldn't resist a smile as she hovered herself back to the edge of the platform and touched down. The instant she did however, that smile faded and her mouth opened to let out the cry of pain that she had repressed. Nearly every muscle in her calves and thighs practically erupted in pain, but also a pain similar to muscles stretching from underuse.
Eleanor was quick to move, looping Gail's right arm over her own shoulder to support her. With the difference in height, Eleanor was forced to bend her legs a little to match Gail's height. Liz moved immediately after to support Gail and her other arm herself.
"You are crazy! You know that?!" Liz exclaimed, "You could have fallen down there yourself!"
"I can fly, remember?" Gail replied, trying to steady her breaths as best she could, "I just wanted to get my solid hit in before the end, you know?" Her statement earned her a raised eyebrow from the faunus, followed by a sly smirk.
"Oh, you'd make this a competition?" she said, "Yeah right, like I'd ever lose to a human!"
"Did something happen to your legs?" Eleanor asked, "It looked like you were in pain when you touched down. Was it the Sphinx?"
"No no, it's..." Gail started as their group slowly walked towards the terminal that their stone belonged to. She knew exactly why her legs had hurt the way they did; a sensitive topic to be sure. Was it such a good idea to start talking so openly of it, with three strangers?
"It's nothing... I'm fine..." Eleanor and Liz said nothing, but both gave acknowledging nods.
"Well come on then!" Angelita urged from off to their side, "Let's c-call for that ship already and be outta here already!"
"Look there!" Professor Cypress pointed out. Their transport had nearly arrived at the airship location when something caught the three teachers' eyes. The familiar black form of the Sphinx itself, moving through the air. However, it didn't appear to be flying. In fact, it didn't appear to have wings at all! It wasn't even moving much from first glance; just freefalling straight down towards the jagged rocks below, concealed by the mountain's fog, "Was that... the Sphinx?"
"It... it was..." Professor Celsius breathed, "They... killed it? By themselves?" The airship cleared the lower level of fog to bring them a more clear view before them. Their transport remained at range of Mount Everett, where most everything appeared as specs against the stark white and dark grey. The side of the mountain could be seen, along with the metal drop zone. And there, standing upon the platform were the small forms of four students, grouped together. There was no mistaking it; they had fought a Sphinx, classified as a B Rank Grimm, and bested it! All before they themselves could intervene!
Lionheart on the other hand said nothing. He continued to observe the view before them, with crossed arms and a smile on his face. Despite the front of confidence he had for his soon-to-be students he had proclaimed to Venus and Kelvin here, there were still lingering doubts within his being. No one but him would know of them of course, and he was glad those doubts had been laid to rest. He was Headmaster after all, the one person that always had to set an example to his peers.
"And what do we have here? It seems more students are appearing as well!" Professor Cypress pointed out. It was true, from the same section the four girls had come from, four more students were emerging up that same path that they had taken. And from all the way at the opposite end of the platform, yet four more other students appeared upon it, having taken a different path.
"I count... ten... eleven... twelve among them," Professor Celsius counted, "And they're in groups of four. That makes three; three more potential teams to be formed." He glanced back at Leonardo, "Seems the difficulty of the entrance test for next year will need to be raised, Headmaster."
"Or perhaps the students this year are just that good," Professor Cypress added, "The Grimm identified in Mount Everett were not easy to dispatch, especially for newly initiates. Some of them were even outside of our control! Come on Kelvin, just admit it...!" She jokingly nudged him with her elbow, causing the stoic man to grunt, more so in annoyance. She turned her gaze to look back out, completely serious in demeanor this time, "This makes three teams... in addition to the other three that have already completed their test... They should consider themselves fortunate."
"Yes, perhaps they should..." Professor Celsius found himself admitting. Lionheart cleared his through to get the two teachers' attention.
"We'd best be getting back to Haven now. Seems like those students have things well in hand themselves, and we'll want to be there for the official ceremony!" Venus and Kelvin nodded, and the transport was turned around in midair. As they flew through the air, a trio of transports flew past them towards the mountain.
"From this moment onward, you all shall be known as... Team MOSS. Led by... Margret Verdan." Lionheart concluded. The newly christened team sported various smiles and nods of gratitude. The surrounding crowd also gave a polite round of applause for them as well. They then took their leave off of the stage. It was the afternoon by now at Haven Academy, with everyone gathered back in the entry hall for the team naming ceremony. Half of the teams had been named by now, each one greeted with various levels of applause.
Team MOSS promptly cleared themselves off of the stage, and Professor Lionheart turned to acknowledge the next group.
"Next: Nikau Kiwi, Victor Rataxes, Jackson Lithe, and Oriel Baltimore, please step forward," the headmaster announced to the four of them. The three boys and one girl made their way to the center of the stage. They each stood proudly, Victor in particular being quite pleased with himself, while Oriel was a little shyer in comparison to the boys. The moment that Nikau took his place on the stage, a number of squeals from girls in the crowd could be heard. This earned looks from the four on stage, as well as a look of confusion from Nikau himself.
"In order to evacuate Mount Everett, the four of you recovered the individual pieces of the control stone to station terminal 03. As shattered and severed pieces were made whole once more, so too you shattered students have been brought together to become one whole yourselves. From this moment onward, you all shall be known as... Team NVJO. With your team leader being... Nikau Kiwi." The crowd and teachers regarded them with warm applause, and the four students smiled in various ways. Jackson also could not resist letting out a whoop himself. Victor's smile quickly faded though as he realized something.
"Wait, it's not me? I'm not team leader?" he said to himself, then glanced out of the corner of his eye to Nikau, "'He' is? I have to take orders from a human? This can't be right, it must be a-"
Leonardo himself then made his way in front of them for congratulatory handshakes. Oriel thanked him profusely yet nervously, while Jackson continued to beam with pride. As he did so to Victor however, he had gripped his hand and brought him closer to whisper something in his ear,
"Make us proud..." For a moment, the surprise had almost overtaken Victor, as shown by the look on his face. His look of surprise slowly but surely turned into one of determination however, and he moved to clear himself off of the stage. Nikau followed behind him, and gave a sincere nod of his own to the Headmaster. Lionheart cleared his throat and resumed.
"Next: Arslan Altan, Bolin Hori, Reese Chloris, and Nadir Shiko, please step forward," the four human students made their way to the center of the stage and stood at attention themselves, "In order to evacuate from Mount Everett, the four of you recovered the pieces of the control stone for station terminal 01. As shattered and broken pieces were made whole once more, so too have you four been brought together to be reformed into a greater whole. From this moment onward, you shall all be known as... Team ABRN. Your team will be will be guided by... Arslan Altan."
Once again, a round of applause from the crowd of students and the attending faculty. Reese with her McFly in one hand, gave a peace sign with a toothy grin, while Nadir smiled and waved to the crowd himself. Bolin looked on both sides at his new... his team, that he was now a part of. He may not be leader himself, but his mind was still set at ease as to whom exactly was to lead this team.
'Well, with Miss Altan here as our leader... I suppose it'll be just as good,' he thought to himself. Like before, Headmaster Lionheart made his way to stand before them. Unlike before though with Team NVJO, he deliberately took his time in looking upon their faces, as if committing them to memory. Special attention was brought to Reese and Nadir, if only for a few seconds longer. Finally, he regarded them with a smile.
"Well done, I expect great things from you; all of you," he said to them. Arslan was the first to act by bringing her fist above her heart and bowing her head a little.
"Thank you Headmaster, we will strive to be nothing short of great; as leader, you have my word," she spoke sincerely. The rest of Team ABRN reacted in kind; Bolin placed a fist into the flat palm of the other hand and nodded himself, Nadir hastily attempted to replicate their actions himself, while Reese simply replied with a thumbs up. With that, the newly formed Team ABRN departed from the stage, with Reese moving quicker and ahead of them on McFly.
"And now for the final team placement: Gail Nacht, Angelita Amarillo, Liz Viridian, and Eleanor Etna, please step forward." The girls in question tentatively moved to position in the center of the stage. Out of respect for ceremony, Gail was actually walking upon her legs this time instead of hovering an inch off ground with her flight pack. The searing pain in her legs had long since died down by now, so walking upon them was no longer an issue at this point, even when walking up the short set of steps.
"In order to evacuate from Mount Everett, the four of you found and recovered the pieces of the control stone belonging to station terminal 02. As these pieces were separated and shattered then rejoined, so too have you four been rejoined into a whole, becoming something greater than yourselves alone. From this moment onward, you shall all be known as... Team GALE. This new team will be led by... Gail Nacht."
The crowd erupted into applause again, this time for the final time. As the four girls of the new Team GALE listened in, they could tell just barely that the cheers came in a little stronger than before. Each one was filled with a genuine sense of pride and accomplishment as a result.
Each one also had different thoughts in that moment.
'Me?! I'm a leader of a huntress team?!' Gail thought. Her head snapped to the side at her new teammates, 'I don't believe it! This is... it's so exciting! If the folks back home could see me now!'
'Nemo... If only you could see me now...' Angelita thought while reaching down to take a small swig of water from her canteen, for the first time in a while it felt like, 'I'll do my best, for you... and for these three...'
'Wait a minute- 'GALE'? And her name is Gail! That can't be right, how does that happen? And I gotta take orders from her too?!' Liz's internal thoughts left her flustered in that moment, finally ending with a sigh, 'Dad, Uncle Briar... I finally did it, just like I said I would...!'
'I'm on a team! I'm on a team!' Eleanor thought. She snapped her head to the side to see her teammates, 'I'll... I'll do whatever I can for them! Just watch me, Father! I'll make you proud too!'
The Headmaster made his way towards them, just as he did with the previous teams. As with the others, he extended a hand to shake theirs, one by one.
"Congratulations, to all of you," he spoke to them all at once, "I know you'll do this school, and yourselves, proud."
"Y-Yes sir! Absolutely, sir!" Eleanor was quick to respond, "You honor me- no, 'us', with this team placement!" She brought her fist over her heart, just as she'd seen Arslan do. Following her example, the others did the same; even Angelita did after a shrug from brief confusion.
"I'll do my best, Headmaster," Gail said, followed by a quick glance out of the corner of her eye to the side, "We all will."
"That is what we're hoping for," Leonardo replied. With that the newly formed Team GALE took their leave off of the center stage, leaving the faunus Headmaster as the sole occupant, "And with that, this year's team placement ceremony has officially concluded! While this is a major step in your careers, it is also the first of many! Continue to work hard, and one day, that which you strive for... will be that much closer to you." The crowd erupted into full on applause at this point. The faunus stood in place with a broad smile upon his face. Moments like these were definitely something to treasure. He was also fairly confident that a certain someone he knew of would agree with that sentiment...
-And that's the end of this 'arc'! Like I said, I'll be taking a bit of a rest, at least in between uploads of this story for now, so that I can get it progressively formed! In the meantime, feedback like reviews are greatly appreciated, and if you like what you see here, be sure to also check out my other Skyrim story that I'm devoting just as much time and work to as well! Hope to be back in the very near future, bye bye!-