Saw this post on Reddit last night saying RWBY had character bloat, with a lot of it saying "Ooooh too many minor characters, not enough character"
There's a horrible truth to be said; in some respects, every character will have some sort of failing in any given media.
RWBY has a wide cast of mostly flat characters who only exist for one arc, and that's fine. I don't think anyone is really begging for Cardin Winchester to reappear after having relevance for one season (and a few Chibi shorts). Writers have to consider a multitude of things- engagement, longetivity and relevance to the story. Characters like May Marigold, Marrow Ebin, and Ilia Amitola had a significant impact on the story and the main characters, despite not being part of the core group. They added new perspectives and dynamics to the world of RWBY, making it feel more diverse and fleshed out.
You don't need a giant cast, just a group of people that are there to say, "hey, this story isn't just about you!". For example, Class 1-B in MHA, the Gotei 13 in Bleach, various government workers in Parks and Rec, the Janitor from Scrubs, etc. Not all of them are 'equal' in ANY regard, in terms of screen time, development, backstory, but they either serve as foils, good for interaction and dialogue, or to progress a differing story that isn't as important as the main one.
Still, it's easy to fall into the mistake of making characters just to fill out a group. It can end up feeling forced, with flat, one-dimensional personalities that don't add anything to the story or, even worse, take away from it. No matter how big or small a character's part is, it's important for them to have their own attitude and traits. RWBY does a decent job of establishing the 'bit characters', and leaves the rest to imagination. And that's honestly for OTHER people to pick up, like in the case of CFVY and SSSN's books, or fans who are attached TO said character. The only bit of dialogue I agree with in the lack of no-teammate relations. Early RWBY had this issue in spades.
Onto my experiences- juggling a side cast is harder than you think. With "We'll Carry On", I wanted to develop the main characters as much as the side characters, but I can't continously shoe horn them into a story. I recently wrote a massive arc with lots of character bloat, and I struggled with giving everyone SOMETHING. As much as I wanted to give an underrated character like Setsuna Tokage (best lizard girl, don't me) something more, it was hard to place and even harder to justify why to focus on in the heat of battle. I had to change some characters, I had to move some around, it was a HEADACHE to manage and if you saw how I write you'd fully understand why it'd be hard to. This is my point- every side character isn't a MAIN character.
At the end of the day, what matters most is not the quantity of characters, but the quality of the ones that are present in the story. Each character should have their own unique personality, backstory, and motivations, even if they only appear for a short period of time. That's all that really maters in a story, for me at least.
Just some food for thought.
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Dormir was a pretty big village, bigger than Essen and Crossed. The homes were the same style as those found in the other two settlements, but these were made entirely of wood. On more peaceful days, racks full of fish would be hanging out in front of butcheries and homes to dry out the catch of the day. Fishermen would be heading down to the wooden docks to row out onto Lake Hals, the largest unfrozen body of water in Solitas, to bring in the biggest cold-water catches they could.
Today was definitely not one of those days.
Somewhere in the settlement, the last of Fiefstone's orbs had been activated and had drawn a large pack of Grimm to ravage the settlement. Some of the villagers had taken up arms and were holding their own against the weaker Grimm, like Beowolves and Swindlen. Their real problems came from the frosted Ursai, Sabyrs, and worst of all, those inhuman screams that echoed out every so often. Ben and Ruby were flying overhead when they saw the chaos.
"This is awful..." Ruby muttered.
"None of the real heavy hitters from what I can see, though," Ben said. "No Nevermores or Manticores, so the sky's ours."
"And no Megoliaths either. They must have all been drawn to Mantle. The only problem are...those screams."
"Same ones from Crossed..." Ruby shivered, remembering what those things almost did to Kylie.
"We gotta take those ones out first." Ben said. "They're the biggest danger to everyone that can still fight...so, where the hell are they?"
Ruby took aim with Crescent Rose and tried to scan the village for any sign of the creatures. Skeletal mockeries of a human form shouldn't be hard to miss. The red reaper noted Sabyrs, Ursai, Beowolves, even Swindlen, but no sign of the humanoid Grimm.
"I don't see them!" Ruby said, "At least, not from here!"
Ben got a bright idea. "Maybe we need a better pair of eyes." He flew over to a cliffside, and morphed into Eye Guy. Multiple eyes started to emerge from his body, and scan the area surrounding them. Ruby gagged.
"This is gross." Ruby frowned.
"This is helping." Ben replied.
Eye Guy's multiple eyes scanned the area for any sign of those weird Grimm. Multiple pupils darted around, checking every angle they possibly could.
"Anything?" Ruby asked.
"Found one," Ben said, "East end of the village, slowly making its way further in. Second one a few feet away from it. Three...four...five...six of them. Six of them, all slowly moving into the village. They're just letting the other Grimm run past them."
"Think I can snipe it from here?" Ruby asked.
"Only if you're careful. And VERY precise." Ben's eyes narrowed.
"So in other words," Ruby took aim at one of the six skeletal Grimm as it shuffled deeper into the village. She tracked it carefully, leading her shot ever so gently so that there'd be no doubt. She fired off a round and watched the bullet fly, only for a Swindlin to suddenly hop in the way and take the shot.
"Oh, come on!"
Ben frowned, realizing that the other Grimm were protecting the real threat. They might not have been that smart, but they understood what was the core of the pack. That was gonna annoying very quickly.
"Try a Dust shot!" Ben suggested.
"On it," Ruby said, reloading a lightning Dust magazine.
She lined up the shot again and fired, only for the same thing to happen, only this time a Beowolf took the shot. Lightning sparked out of the wolf Grimm's eye socket before it fell to the ground and jittered before turning to ash.
"What the hell!? Why can't we shoot them?" Ruby cursed.
"War of attrition." Ben guessed. "It'll wear us down before we get them."
"Then how do we get those freaks?" Ruby frowned.
"We need an opening," Ben said, before radioing into the other outcasts. "Weiss! I need you to pick up Yang and Ceres! I have a crazy plan!"
"That's the stupidest plan I've ever heard." Weiss radioed in, directing her summoned wasp to deal with some of the Swindlen swarming the ground. Spikes fired off from the vestigial mandibles on the side of the Queen Lancer's face, gunning the small, gremlin-like Grimm down as easily as any weapon would.
"Weiss, come on. You know I've thought up crazier," Ben countered.
"Maybe the situation's making it a bit hard to remember!"
"Oh, I'm ALL for it!" Yang smirked over the radio. She blocked a swipe from a Beowolf with her mechanical arm and, while the wolf just looked dumbfounded, Ceres took the chance to literally punch its head off. Its skull-mask shattered and its head exploded into a cloud of black smoke, before the rest of the body vanished.
"I'm with Yang on this one. Sorry, Weiss. You're outvoted." Ceres radioed in.
"There you have it, Weiss!" Ben smirked.
"I mean, I can see the positive, I just think there's a better way to do this…" The heiress sighed. She made sure to drop Kylie off, letting her team-up with Rex for now. The nanite-user of the Ace-Ops had just pummeled another Sabyr into the snow, it's black ash seeping out from beneath the bulky form of the Smack Hand.
"Anyone else want some?" Rex taunted.
As if to answer, an Ursa pounced at him from behind, jaws open and ready to clamp down. Instead of sinking its teeth into the Outcast, a familiar cloud of smoke rushed past the bear monster. A hiss of wind was the only hint at what happened as, before the Ursa hit the ground, its head flew off from its shoulders. The decapitated Grimm thudded into the snow before its body vanished, with Kylie reforming next to Rex, already hefting True Rebel over her shoulder.
"He did. But I got you," Kylie smirked.
Kylie was interrupted by the roar of a pack of Sabyrs charging towards a group of civilians. The two Outcasts went to defend the fleeing villagers, quickly finding that they weren't the people's only defenders. One of the Sabyrs was being held at bay by, surprisingly, a fishing trident. The massive feline beast tried to swat away the blades and get to the wielder.
"And this is why I'm not a cat person," the girl wielding the trident muttered. She moved the trident towards another stalking Sabyr, causing it to roar at her as if it was taunting her. The girl in question wore a heavy, but hoodless, parka that sported a color scheme of two hues of blue. A parka harness was fastened to her chest, with one of its straps clipping to her belt. In more peaceful times, this was how she carried her trident and any other catches of the day. From her belt hung what seemed to be a rigging line, no doubt from a fishing net, and a metallic fish skeleton ornament.
"Come on…you wanna try me?" the girl taunted, though the fear in her voice was obvious. One of the Sabyrs charged, pouncing at the girl and knocking her to the ground. She tried to keep the monster at bay with her trident, letting the beast bite the wooden shaft instead of sinking its fangs into her. She tried her best to push the beast off, but it was far stronger than her. She could hear the wood creak and crack, practically on the verge of snapping. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the fangs close on her.
But they didn't.
A compressed ball of stone and snow slammed into the Sabyr and knocked it away, snapping its fangs in the process. The cat Grimm hissed in pain, thrashing about in the snow, while the other members of its pack turned to who just shot at them. Gunshots rang out and brought down two more sabertooth Grimm. The three remaining rushed the aggressors as one great force. That attack ultimately amounted to nothing as Rex and Kylie were able to handily dispatch them. Rex's Slam Cannon quickly shifted into the BFS and, with it, he cut through one of the Sabyrs, letting its severed body hit the snow. As for Kylie, she lashed out with a few swift swings of her chain and True Rebel's blade buried itself into the remaining Sabyrs' neck and skull-mask.
"Holy…holy shit," the girl said, upon seeing the duo take down the sabertooth Grimm.
"You good? Anyone hurt?" Rex asked.
"N-nothing serious. But my sister-"
"Where is she?" Kylie asked, knowing exactly where this was going.
"...by those…those things," the girl said. As if the universe needed to specify what things she meant, the piercing and inhuman screams echoed out in the air. Everyone who heard those screams suddenly became dizzy, as if suddenly afflicted by vertigo.
"It's…the same things from Crossed," Kylie said.
"Wait, you've seen them before?"
"I personally burned a couple of them back in a ruined village. They're not that strong on their own…"
"But now they've got more than just a bunch of furry little gremlins for backup," Rex said.
"I'll let the others know. Ben's got a plan and…well let's just say it's gonna be fun to watch," Kylie said.
Weiss got the call a few seconds after that, nodding when Kylie finished the update.
"Alright. I'll let 'em know," Weiss said, "Yang! Ceres! We're throwing a rescue into the plan! Someone called Cye Ayu might be down there with them!"
"Then we'll find her!" Yang called back up.
"Anything to look out for?" Ceres asked.
"According to her sister, there's a special lamp she carries everywhere with her, a family heirloom," Weiss answered.
"Special lamp, got it," Yang nodded, "Now, stay on target, Weiss! Stay on target…"
"You should be saying that to yourself," the heiress huffed. If any of the panicked villagers looked up, they would see maybe the weirdest sight they'd glimpse today. If the circumstances were different, they might be more surprised. Weiss was still riding on the back of her glowing Queen Lancer, but the wasp's legs held Yang and Ceres aloft in the air. The trio were flying straight towards the Apathy as they crept their way further into the village.
"Alright, here's my stop!" Ceres said, "Bombs away!"
With that, the legs of the Lancer that were holding onto Ceres let go and dropped the Archimedian. Right beneath her was one of the frost covered skeletal Grimm, trudging through the snow and carnage going on around it. With a raspy breath, it looked upwards just before Ceres landed a double-handed overhead slam onto the monster. The impact sent snow and Grimm dust everywhere. Ceres dusted some of the snow off her shoulder, the first of the nightmarish Grimm dead under-fist.
"Alright, that's one down," Weiss said, "Yang, you ready?"
"Try and get me between two of 'em! I gotta at least try to one-up her!" Yang smirked. The heiress sighed and piloted her insectoid summon into the air above two of the creatures, or at least as best she could manage.
"Alright, let me go!" the blonde called out, tapping the Queen Lancer's chitinous legs. On that signal, the legs let go and Yang began to fall through the air. She reared her fist back and, with an echoing battle cry, she slammed down into the snow below. The shockwave of the impact actually managed to knock over the sickly thin Grimm.
Without wasting a second, Yang launched herself to the right with shots from her gauntlets. She was about to grab hold of Grimm's head when a Sabyr pounced on her from the side. The blonde, feeling that was coming, fired off a third shot that tore right through the feline Grimm's torso, reducing it to ash in seconds. The skeletal Grimm began to slink upright again, not even using its arms or legs to try and support itself. It was just creaking back into an upright position, complete with the sounds of snapping bones.
The Grimm took in a raspy breath and was about to scream, only for Yang's hand, its synthetic skin unraveled, to grab hold of the monster's face. One of the Grimm's eyes looked to Yang before the blonde forced it back into the snow. She then quickly reared back her fist and punched, blasting away the skull-like head of the monster.
"You're not that tough," Yang smirked. Her cockyness was offset when the second beast screamed. She staggered upon hearing it, taking a few steps back as she lost her balance. She looked to the other skeletal Grimm, now back on its feet. This one was much shorter than the one she'd just killed, more hunched over. As Yang staggered, an Ursa Major rushed in from the side and smacked her with its massive claws. The blonde slammed into the wall of a nearby hut, bouncing off it before dropping back to the snowy ground.
"Oh you've gotta be kidding me," Yang hissed as she got back up, "Ok…look. Would love to deal with you, give myself some Emerald Forest nostalgia, but I don't have the time. So how about we just finish this quickly?"
The blonde's hair began to glow, small embers rising into the air from each lock. The Ursa growled, seemingly in agreement with Yang's idea.
"Great, cause I got someone to save!" Yang smirked and launched herself forward with two blasts of Ember Celica. The lumbering bear Grimm charged towards her at the same time. The two were going to slam into each other head on, before Yang fired off a round to sent her off to the side.
Before the Grimm could strike back, it already felt Yang's fists connect to its side. The Ursa Major snapped at Yang's arms before it managed to grab hold of her arm and toss her back in front of it. It tossed her around before slamming her back down into the snow hard. The Ursa rose up on its hind legs to try but Yang rolled out of the way, letting snow be crushed. The blonde punched into the Ursa's legs a few more times and jumped back, narrowly avoiding the giant claws of the beast. She smirked as her plan worked.
The Ursa tilted its head upon hearing something and then looked down to the leg that Yang had used as a punching bag. Several beeping red capsules were now stuck to it, flashing faster and faster. Yang activated the trigger and detonated the collection of micro-bombs, consuming the Grimm in flame and smoke.
As the smoke cleared, Yang stood up, brushing off the snow from her jacket. She looked around, taking in the chaos and destruction around her. The village was in ruins, buildings reduced to rubble and flames burning out of control. Grimm were everywhere, and the fight was far from over.
Yang took a deep breath and readied herself for the next wave of Grimm. She cracked her neck and knuckles.
She took a second to wonder where Ben was- he had to be somewhere in this mess, right?
But that thought went out the window when she heard it.
"Please...please...someone...help..." a low, almost imperceptible voice called out. It was only by a miracle that Yang managed to hear it, picked out from the chaos of battle and panic going on around her. She made a mad dash for the source of the voice, completely missing the fact that the second skeletal Grimm she was facing...was gone.
The blonde brawler punched two more swarming Swindlens to dust as she approached a partially destroyed hut. The wall had been smashed open, probably from an Ursa Major, if not the very same one that Yang had just turned to smoke a few minutes earlier. She entered through that same hole and searched around.
"Hello? I heard you before! Here to help, but I don't-!" Yang began.
"O-over...here...!" the voice called out again. Yang tracked it down and found the girl she was told about, Cye Ayu. She was trapped underneath some of the rubble of the house. Apparently, some of the supporting logs for the ceiling must have been shaken loose and fell on top of her. She was wearing a full winter coat, turquoise in color, with a large furred collar and a massive fur skirt covering her legs from the waist down.
"Cye?" Yang asked.
"That's...that's me. Did...did Zure...?" Cye asked.
"She's ok. My friends are with her, keeping her safe. Can you move?"
"I...I think so. But...all my strength...it's just...g-gone. T-the...the Grimm...did you kill them?"
"Not all of them," Yang admitted, "but once I get you out of here-"
"N-no! N-not...not the Beowolves or the Ursai. T-the...the skeletons. The Apathy. You need to kill all of them o-or...or we won't leave this village alive," Cye warned.
"The Apathy. So that's what they're called. Well, don't you worry. One of my friends had an encounter with one..." Yang said.
"Your friend is lucky to be alive." Cye yawned. "Do...you know what they do if you grab you?"
Yang looked unnerved. "...something tells me I don't even wanna know."
"Good answer." Cye said. "N-now go."
"Like I said, first, I'm getting you out," Yang said, grabbing hold of the support logs and hefting them up. With her strength, it was easy for her to toss the logs aside. The huntress looked over Cye, paying special attention to her legs to see if they were broken. With all the layers of clothing covering them, it was hard to really tell. Acting fast, Yang just scooped the girl up in her arms to carry her.
"I gotcha," Yang said, "Now, you can let my friends know about these Apathy. Here," Yang activated her radio and set it to speaker so she could talk. She was hoping that everyone would hear Cye's warning, setting it to broadcast to everyone.
"Everyone! Heads up! Those creepy skeleton Grimm- the Apathy- we gotta take them down if we wanna get everyone out of this place. Be careful! And don't...let them touch you or something!"
"Touch us? Why touch?" Kylie asked, "We know about the scream..."
"Cye? You wanna let 'em know or would you prefer to just leave it at 'getting grabbed is bad?'" Yang asked.
"...inside out..." She muttered.
Yang's skin crawled at that image. "You don't wanna know."
"...yeah, no, I heard that," Kylie shivered.
"Well, good thing they're not that fast," Ceres said over the comm, "I just bashed another one's skull in!"
"I'll shoot them right in their Skeletor faces." Kylie said, reloading her gun. "Blake, say something cool so we all sound really badass!"
No answer.
"...Blake?"
"Weiss, think you can come take a passenger on your wasp?" Yang asked.
"Of course I can. Why, are you-?" Weiss began.
"Gonna go find her? Yeah."
Weiss took a deep breath, as Yang put Cye on the back. "I don't like how you're going it alone."
"It's on me for not sticking with her." Yang frowned.
"Just...be careful, ok?" Weiss asked.
"I will. If I need help, you'll probably be the first to see it," Yang tapped her gauntlet. One shot from those could serve as a very effective flare.
With that, Yang set off towards the direction of the Apathy. She could hear them before she could see them- the chilling sound of their screams was almost deafening. Yang gritted her teeth, pushing herself to move faster. As she approached, Yang could see them- the skeletal Grimm with their empty eyes and gaping mouths. They were clustered together, almost as if they were protecting something. Yang could feel her heart pounding in her chest, but she didn't let it show. She took a deep breath, focusing on the screams. Her spirit wasn't gonna break here.
"You're not that strong," Yang muttered to herself, "I already know that. You can go down in one punch."
The only problem was the other Grimm. So far, every experience she's had with these Apathy proved that the other Grimm had a sort of symbiosis with them, some kind of protective instinct. It was easy to put the pieces on the why. Their screams could stun people, making them easier prey for the other, more avid hunters. Yang set herself up, ready to fire off some rounds to launch herself at the monsters.
Yang felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her. It was like a sudden onset of fatigue, hitting her like a truck. She felt her muscles weaken and her senses dull, as if she was being drained of all her energy.
It was the Apathy's aura, she realized too late. She had been so focused on their physical threat that she had forgotten about their emotional one. The Apathy fed on negative emotions, draining their prey of their will to fight and leaving them so vulnerable that the real threat could attack.
Yang gritted her teeth and forced herself to focus, pushing back against the cold wind.
As Yang trudged on, she heard the familiar sound of a charging Sabyr. The feline Grimm pounced at the blonde, but she was able to catch it and punch several sticky bombs into its gut. She threw it into the air and detonated the bombs, blasting the beast to bits.
Yang, her chest heaving, scanned the area for any other nearby Grimm. There was never going to be just one, so she had to be ready for anything. There was an abrupt clamor of footsteps behind her. When she turned to confront the new danger, she spotted a group of Beowolves racing toward her.
Yang did not hesitate before charging forward and engaging the Beowolves in combat. She punched and kicked them so hard that they scattered in all directions. Despite the Grimm's best efforts, Yang was able to avoid their attacks and launch devastating counterstrikes.
The death of the final Beowolf gave Yang a brief moment of relief. After checking her weaponry, she wiped the sweat from her forehead. She was almost out of bullets, but she still had enough to fight off any more Grimm that came her way. (edited)
One thought was sticking in her head as she walked on though: where was Blake? There wasn't any sign of her around. She thought maybe Blake was fighting and needed absolute focus, so she just didn't answer. But there weren't any gunshots. At least, none that Yang recognized as Gambol Shroud.
Yang's concern for Blake grew with each passing moment. She knew that something wasn't right. As she made her way through the ruins of what once was Dormir, she began to call out for Blake, hoping that she would answer.
"Blake!" Yang shouted, her voice echoing through the trees. "Blake, where are you?"
There was no response, only the distant howls of the Grimm. Yang quickened her pace, her heart pounding in her chest. She had to find Blake, she couldn't leave her girlfriend out there alone-! The radio silence was actually torture.
Even if she couldn't see them, she could feel the eyes of the Grimm on her. She checked every house, every shack, every dwelling she could to find Blake. Some were empty, others weren't, but there was little Yang could do for the inhabitants.
As Yang went from one deserted building to the next looking for anything of value, she couldn't help but feel a growing sense of dread. Suppose she was unable to locate Blake. What then? What if she was hurt? Yang feared losing her partner.
She heard a faint noise from a nearby building. Almost a moan. Yang ran to the disturbance and gingerly opened the door. Blake was unconscious on the floor.
"Blake!" Yang screamed out and sprinted over to be by her side. She checked her pulse and breathing, relieved. Blake seemed to be knocked out, alive but injured.
"How did this...how did this even happen..." Yang muttered to herself. She looked to Gambol Shroud, noting that it still had a fresh clip loaded in.
Did she fall into an ambush? Or was it just the Apathy's cries sapping her strength? Either way, Yang needed to get Blake out of here.
She quickly went to support her girlfriend, picking up Gambol Shroud in her free hand. With her own bullets running low, she'd need to be careful. From what she could tell, Blake hadn't used too much of her ammo in the initial fight. Blake was now leaning on Yang's shoulder, with the blonde shifting the ninja's weapon into its pistol mode in case something decided to try and jump them.
"Getting you out of here," Yang whispered. "Don't worry."
Blake gave a weak nod, and her eyes glowed with a mix of pain and thanks. Yang could see how badly her girlfriend was hurt. She could feel Blake's weight on her shoulder, but she didn't give up or let her guard down. She knew that they had to get out of there alive.
As they walked through the empty streets, Yang kept her eyes open and looked around every corner and alley. It seemed like the Grimm were everywhere, waiting in the shadows to strike. But Yang didn't want them to catch her by surprise.
And then that damned scream rang out. Yang fell over because of that stupid yell. It sounded like the scream came from right behind her. She turned around slowly and saw two Apathy at the end of the alley.
"D-damn it..." Yang huffed. "I thought you scumbags had left this place..." Yang was having a hard time getting up as the Apathy got closer.
One of the skeletal Grimm scraped its long, boney claws against the stone of a house. The claws cut long scratches into the stone itself as they trudged closer. Yang stopped struggling to get up and instead, she went for Gambol. She pulled up the pistol and took aim at the skeleton, only for her to hear a growl. She looked up and saw a Beowolf glaring down at her from atop the building. The wolf Grimm licked its chops as more Grimm appeared next to it, mostly more Beowolves and Swindlen. The brawler's violet eyes darted between targets, counting how many of them there were. Four, six, eight, ten, twelve...
Yang took a deep breath as she got ready for the attack. She was trying to calm her nerves. She held Gambol Shroud tighter and looked over at Blake, who was now leaning against a nearby wall for support.
Yang said, "Stay behind me." She moved forward to face the group of Grimm. "I've got this..."
The Beowolf jumped off the roof, and then the rest of the pack did the same. Yang's eyes narrowed as she waited for the right time to strike.
The first Beowolf closed in quickly, its jaws open wide and ready to snap down like a vice. Time slowed down for Yang as she looked down the throat of the monster and squeezed the trigger. A single bullet fired right between the jaws, causing the Beowolf's eyes to go wide. An explosion of ice shredded the insides of the towering wolf, leaving behind nothing but a cloud of dust.
Two Swindlen jumped out of the mist left behind, both managing to grab onto Yang. She grabbed the first and threw it into the snow, stomping down on its neck with her boot while she slammed the second into the nearest wall. The creatures were so weak that they ended up dying from the impacts. A third and fourth of the little furry gremlins tried a similar tactic, but Yang fired off another bullet, catching them both in an explosion of rock. One was skewered in multiple places by stony spires while the other was hit in the head with a rock so hard, their skull-mask cracked.
Then came the next Beowolf. Yang shifted her girlfriend's weapon into its sword mode and, while she wasn't as trained in the use of blades as Blake was, she still knew how to use it. She dodged the wolf's lung and then quickly stabbed it in the heart from behind. A second Beowolf jumped in, hoping to exploit the fact her back was turned, but Yang turned on her heel and cut right through the Beowolf, bisecting it.
The rest of the pack was closing in, but Yang refused to let them get the upper hand. She swung Gambol Shroud in a wide arc, catching two more Beowolves in one strike. The Grimm fell to the ground, their bodies ripped apart by the sheer force of the attack.
I gotta talk to Ceres about putting one of these in my arm. This is kinda fun. Yang thought.
The Apathy reared their heads back, taking big, raspy breaths before they threw their heads forward and screamed. Yang and Blake were both hit by the scream. To Yang, it felt like both Ember Celica and Gambol Shroud were getting heavier and heavier. To Blake, whatever energy she was starting to get back was quickly sapped away again.
"Damn...it...come...come on!" Yang cursed, trying to get back into a fighting stance.
"Yang..." Blake said, "It's...it's ok."
"It's ok?! What are you-?!" Yang looked over her shoulder and her eyes shrank in fear. Blake's eyes were...dull, glassy, the pupils dilated.
"Blake...what...what's happening to y-?" Yang asked, only to be cut off when another Swindlen jumped on her. She still had enough strength to resist it trying to disarm her, letting the blonde throw the small Grimm off.
As Yang fought off the Swindlen, she couldn't shake the feeling of unease at Blake's sudden change. The Apathy's screams were getting louder, and she could feel herself struggling more and more against their influence. She had to do something before they were both overwhelmed.
Is this what happens at close range? Yang thought. My body feels...heavy...
"Yang...you can...you can put the sword down," Blake droned on, "We're not...we're not getting out of this. They won't let us..."
"Bullshit! That's...that's their power talking! You'd be doing the same for me if I was the one who went missing! We both know you'd never give up, even with the odds stacked against us..." Yang countered, doing her best to keep Gambol aloft. But now, it was like trying to hold up an anvil.
Blake didn't respond for a moment, her eyes still distant and unseeing. But then, something seemed to flicker in her gaze, a spark of recognition. "You're right," she said, her voice stronger now, "I wouldn't give up on you. And I won't give up on us now."
Yang felt a surge of hope, despite the overwhelming odds against them.
"There she is," Yang said with a grin, "Welcome back."
"I miss...much?" Blake asked, trying to get up.
"Not mu-"
Yang was suddenly knocked to the ground. An Alpha Beowolf had found them and pushed past its packmates and the blonde defender to get at the easier prey at the back. Blake was still low on energy, so she couldn't dodge or form up a shadow in time.
The Alpha knocked Blake into the snow and pinned her wrists to the ground. The Alpha's ears pressed flat against the top of its skull as it growled down at its caught prey. The Beowolf opened its jaws and began lowering down towards Blake's face. Blake managed to try and kick the beast off of her, only really serving to annoy the beast. It then reared back and slashed at Blake's stomach. Her Aura held, but then immediately cracked afterwards.
Red painted the snow as the Beowolf grabbed Blake's throat.
Yang's eyes shrank in fear, totally stunned by what she saw.
Yang pushed herself up and ran towards Blake and the Alpha Beowolf without stopping to think. She didn't care about the pain in her own body. As she got closer, she could hear Blake struggling to breathe. Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. She didn't know what she could do to stop the Grimm, but she didn't want to watch as it killed her girlfriend.
Yang quickly closed the distance between her and the Beowolf, then leaped into the air with all her strength. She landed on the Grimm's back, grabbed its fur, and used her momentum to swing around and hit the side of its head with her elbow. The Beowolf stumbled, giving Blake a chance to break free and scramble away.
The feline Faunus quickly got to her feet and made a mad dash away from the Alpha, her hand clutching her side where her Aura broke and the beast's claws found purchase. The Beowolf was none too pleased with having let its prey escape. It thrashed around like a bull, trying in vain to toss Yang from its back. The blonde's grip was iron, tightly gripping clumps of black fur for dear life.
The Alpha tried to slam her into the nearby wall, force her off, but the brawler's Aura held strong. Her hair began to glow, small embers rising off of her and her eyes turned to a deep crimson. What was usually only a little bright began to grow in intensity. The Apathy at the end of the alley had to shield their eyes lest they risk being blinded. The remaining Swindlen and Beowolves also stopped in their tracks, shielding themselves from the light.
And then Yang got aggressive.
This Beowolf, this low-tier Grimm, one that she and Blake had killed numerous times, even the Alphas, thought that it would be the one that got to take Blake away from her? Oh, that was a mistake, the last one this wolf would ever make. As the beast was thrashing around, Yang managed to reach out and grab the Alpha's upper jaw and wrench it open.
"You thought...you could do it? You?" Yang muttered.
The Alpha tried in vain to snap its jaw shut. Yang quickly used the thread on her prosthetic arm to bring Gambol Shroud back to her free hand.
"You couldn't even get close without a walking emotional flashbang," Yang threatened. In one swift motion, she thrust Blake's sword into the mouth of the Beowolf, the blade stabbing through the back of its head. Its eyes twitched as its arms fell limp and it began to fall over. The Beowolf's body turned to dust before it even hit the snow.
Yang stood there, panting and covered in snow and dirt. She looked around, seeing the other Grimm beginning to retreat back into the woods. The Apathy were gone too, but she didn't fully trust that they were gone. She rushed over to Blake, who was clutching her stomach and gasping for breath.
"Blake! Blake, are you okay?" Yang asked urgently, trying to help her up.
"I'm...I'm good," Blake gasped, still clutching the wound, "It's not as bad as it looks...I think."
"Didn't get anything serious? No...no arteries or...?" Yang asked, the panic in her voice very apparent.
"Yeah, think...think so."
"Put some snow on it or something- I think that'll help stop the blood." Yang said, taking off one of the sleeves of her jacket. She ripped it off, and and wrapped it around Blake's waist as she put some snow on the wound.
"Thanks," Blake said weakly, wincing in pain.
Yang gave her a small smile, but it quickly faded when she heard the sound of more Grimm approaching.
"We need to move," Yang said, helping Blake to her feet.
"How many...shots do you have left?" Blake asked.
Yang checked the clip in Gambol and nodded.
"About half the clip left. How many you still got?" the brawler asked.
"About...five or six more. Where are the others?"
"Last I saw, they were getting all the survivors together."
"Good, good..." Blake huffed. "Damn it...I can't believe I let myself get jumped like that."
"It's fine. We've never even heard of these Grimm until now." Yang countered.
"It...wasn't actually the skeletons that got me," Blake admitted, her cat ears drooping a bit.
"What? An Ursa catch you by surprise?" Yang asked.
"...suuuuure."
"I'm gonna ask about it when we get back, you know."
"Ok fine," Blake caved, "I think...it was a Swindlen. They must've loosened a support beam and...dropped it on me when I wasn't looking. Then the screams hit and I just couldn't get up."
"Eh. Ben's been caught off guard by worse." Yang joked, trying to add some humor to the conversation. She wanted to distract Blake from the pain. "One time, when we were 12, Animo sent all these mutant seagulls after him, and-"
"Yang?" Ben's voice came through her communicator. "Yang!"
"Ben!" Yang answered, "We were just talking about you. Did you get everyone out?"
"Uh, yeah. Everyone's out." Ben said. "Where are you guys?"
"Still in the chaos- we need back up immediately, though." Yang said. "Blake's injured- Beowulf got a lucky swipe."
"Where are you? We can have Weiss come and pick you up."
"We've also managed to get a signal back to Atlas. Harriet and Vine are on their way over with relief supplies and back-up to clear out any stragglers," Weiss added in.
"Did you tell them about Felix and Locus?" Blake asked.
"I did...and I think Vine might've broken something on the other end out of anger," Weiss remembered the sound of metal creaking loudly on the other end.
"Vine? Mr. 'I'm so chill and cool'?" Ben repeated. "That's a shocker."
"Worry about it later." Yang frowned. "Right now, my girlfriend needs medical attention."
"Hold on, I think I see you," Weiss said. Sure enough, the two heard the buzzing of the Queen Lancer from above. Looking up, they saw the giant summoned wasp descend down.
Yang waved them down, as Weiss landed. She rushed over to help Blake. "I gotcha, I gotcha..." Weiss said, helping Blake up on the wasp.
"Thanks..." Blake sighed as she laid back on the summoned wasp.
"Alright, take us back," Yang said, holding Blake's hand tightly.
"Right. Hold on tight." Weiss said, as she flew off.
