"Here we go!" Elise cried out, sprinting off the top of a roof with her rifle over her shoulder. She grinned from ear to ear, letting her hair fly back behind her. Even as a black and shadowy figure flew in front of her, her smile did not falter. It rushed past, the dark beast screeching out as its wings flapped in the air. The Grimm had the sight of a human just seconds before, but now it had completely lost visual of her.
Suddenly, Elise's head popped up behind the large Nevermore's head. "Hey there." She leaned forward, half of her body on its head. She then half yelped as the bird jerked its head around. It quickly flew upward, flapping its wings around with a battle cry echoing from the depths of its lungs.
Softly chuckling, Elise kept a strong grip on the feathers of the demonic bird until it started to fly straight towards the ground. When it did, she braced her feet against its body and let go. She quickly launched herself upward into the air, looking down at the creature of Grimm as she pulled out her rifle and took aim. "Hope you like fireworks." She mumbled, squeezing the trigger.
The Nevermore looked up just in time to see a small black dart pierce its neck. It winced,, flying sideways for a second before it cried out, sparks dancing all across its body.
"Electricity... let's try some explosive darts! Haven't got to try these out yet!" She grinned, reaching into her pouch to pull out a dart. Even though the dark bird was stunned, it flapped its wings slowly as it shook its head and looked upward at the falling girl above. It opened its beak, letting out a screech.
Elise winced as the sound struck her ears. It was loud enough to shatter glass from every store around. "Gosh, you're annoying." She groaned, holding up her gun and aiming again. This time, she was aiming for inside the Nevermore's mouth. She took a deep breath, slowing down her heartbeat before she fired.
Just as the Grimm started to shut its mouth, the small dart colored red just barely made it through the crack in its beak and went down its throat. It paused for a moment before it jerked its head and coughed out a loud cloud of smoke.
"Darn it." Elise crossed her arms, glaring down at the Nevermore just as she fell past it. "I could have sworn it would have done-" She stopped herself, yelping as a huge hole suddenly formed from an explosion on the inside of the creature of darkness. "Okay! Too much Dust!" She shouted, holding out her hand. A red and white striped curved edge suddenly was in her grip. She smiled, looking down the chain that attached to it.
"You think?!" Kris snapped down below, jerking on the other end of her weapon and sending Elise flying through the air towards another Nevermore. "You're going to kill us all if the Grimm don't!"
The red head groaned, catching a glimpse of something moving behind her. She quickly jumped away, dodging the claw of a Beowolf. "I was talking to someone!" She growled, twirling her candy cane weapons around before she held them up and readied heraelf in a fighting stance.
The Grimm snarled back at her, slowly circling around the small girl. It sniffed the air a few times, scratching at the ground in an attempt to show dominance over the Huntress in training. Not that it was working though.
"You're mine, demon." She mumbled before darting forward. She might be able to run long distances, but she was definitely fast when it came to short a short distance. It only took her a few seconds to become face to face with the monster. It even seemed slightly surprised that she was there so fast. It tilted its head for a second before it brought a paw back and roared like a trumpet of war.
Kris twirled one cane around, eyes narrowing. She fired several shots, the Grimm stumbling back a bit. As its claw came around, she ducked down and dove right between it's legs. She smirked, quickly standing up with weapons up. She pressed a button on them, blades shooting out and piercing the Beowolf's back. It groaned out, its limbs dropping limp before fell forward with a thud.
"Nailed it." She smirked, pulling out her blades. Hearing a growl behind her, her eyes widened as she slowly looked back to see a medium sized Beoworlf behind her. "Oh hell..." She muttered as it drew its paw back.
Before it had a chance to strike though, a large blast struck its back and made it grunt heavily. It groaned, stumbling around. Kris raised an eyebrow, her shoulders dropping down a bit as another large blast struck it. With that, the creature of Grimm fell forward and hid the ground with a thud next to its already decaying brother.
"You're welcome!" A soft voice shouted.
Kris chuckled softly, looking over in the direction of where the blast came. "Thanks Chey!"
"No problem!" The deer Faunus called out, jumping out of the way of a Boarbatusk's rolling attack. She gritted her teeth, spinning around as she let her Atlas rifle transform back into regular blasting mode as she stared to rapidly fire.
"Too much armor plating..." She groaned, watching the creature stand back up. It shook its head a bit, clawing slowly at the ground before it jump and started to spin again. When it jumped up, Cheyenne caught a glimpse of a bare underside. Her eyes darted all around, trying to find something to help her. When she did, she barely had time to jump out of the way of the Grimm's attack.
Instead of striking her, it hit a light pole behind her. It growled and groaned, rolling around on its back for a second. Cheyenne took this to her advantage.
Wasting not time, she raised her rifle and narrowed her eyes at the beast's underbelly. She quickly fired several normal blast, let creature of darkness howling in pain each time before it went limp. With a smile on her face, she turned around to see two other Boarbatusks. Her smile quickly faded as she gave a very long sigh. "These things are going to be the death of me..."
Rather than fighting like she promised her team, Kagami was helping a group of people out of a half collapsed coffee shop. Glass completely littered the floor, broken chairs and tables scattered everyone. "Come on." The jade haired girl mumbled, lifting up a table with shaky knees as she held out her hand to a small boy. "We need to get out of here. You're mother is looking for you."
He gave a small whine, sinking deeper into the shadows. He softly shook his head no.
Sighing, Kagami slowly knelt down in front of him. "You're name is Bleue, right?" She held out her hand again. "Your mother is out in front ready to run away from all these monsters and sent me in here to come find you, alright? So come on. Everything will be fine."
Once again, the boy shook his head and wrapped his arms around himself.
She took a deep breath, shifting slightly as as she started to stand. She grimaced slightly before she shook her head and held out her hand once again. "Come on. I promise I'll protect you. And I promise I will get you to your mommy real quick too. I promise."
The child gulped, glancing out around the damaged coffee shop. He gulped once more before slowly crawling out and grabbing Kagami hand.
When he did so, the young girl noticed that his shoulder was bleeding. "Hold on." She slowly pulled her hand away, taking off the tie from her dance outfit. That night felt like so long ago. It probably was, but what did she know. She took the green fabric, gently wrapping it and tying it around the boys shoulder. "Alright." She grabbed his hand again, helping him out. "Let's go."
Once outside, Kagami lifted her head to the soft cry of a woman. A moment later, she watched the same woman rush over and pick up the small boy next to her. The boy's eyes immediately went wide, swelling up with tears as he started to cry. The woman held him close, patting his back as she turned to Kagami. "Thank you." She held him close. "Thank you so much."
She smiled back at the woman, nodding slowly. "It's nothing-" She stopped herself, eyes widening at the Ursa that spotted them. "Shoot." She muttered, pushing the mother and her son onward. "Go. Now."
The woman quickly nodded, running away as fast as she could while Kagami turned around to face the Ursa. "Okay... this may be bad." She muttered quietly, drawing her sword as she slowly stepped back.
The Grimm growled, its crimson eyes narrowing before it charged straight at her.
She quickly jumped out of the way, slashing at the monster as she did so. When her feet hit the ground, she stumbled back and winced at the pain in her knees. She groaned, shaking her head a bit as she looked back up. Her eyes immediately went wide at the large paw swinging through the air at her. She brought her sword up, blocking the claws from striking her but not able to keep her stance as she was flung backwards.
She hit a wall, grunting heavily as she lost the grip on her sword. She slowly rolled over, laying on her back with heavy breathing. She lifted her head, staring at the black beast charging at her. Her jaw tightened as she held up her arms and shut her eyes tight. Coming from the rings, a blast mist overtook the shape of a large shield just in time to block the Ursa's pounce.
Kagami grunted, her body being pushed down. The Grimm then pounced again. Another grunt came from Kagami, the black shield cracking ever so slightly. Her eyes widened before quickly shutting her eyes as the beast pounded onto the shield again, making her grunt more as larger cracks formed. She knew for a fact that the shield she made could only withstand one more strike before shattering like glass. Luckily, it didn't have to.
As the Ursa went to jump again, something slashed at its back leg and made it stumble away. With raised eyebrows, Kagami let her arms drop slowly, the black shield disappearing into nothing.
There was a loud battle cry coming from a woman just as the Grimm froze in place. Coming from its chest was the tip of a bloody blade. As it pulled out, the monster fell forward. Behind it stood someone Kagami never thought she would see again.
There, standing several meters from her was the same woman with orange hair she saw seveeal years ago.
With a sigh, Julia Caesar flipped her extremely long hair back and sheathed her sword at her side. She then started in Kagami's direction, cracking her knuckles covered in metal. "Are you-". She paused blinking a bit before her head tilted to the side. "You're... that girl from Vytal?" It came off as a question more than a statement.
Kagami blinked rapidly, slowly sitting up with a stunned look. The wave of Grimm was slowly dying down. "You're... that Captain."
Julia half smiled down at her, reaching out a hand to help her up. "Captain Caesar, at your service."
Grunting, she stumbled a bit as she regained her balance. She then quickly looked up with a faint gulp. "Thank you... for saving me... twice..." She slowly looked away as she spoke.
Not even phased, she shook her orange hair around before she crossed her arms. "I came here to assist Atlas with the Vytal Festival. I had no idea someone from Vytal would actually be here. Let alone you." She reached down, picking up Kagami's sword and handing it to you. "I'm hoping you know how to use this." She chuckled. "Because each time I have seen you, you've looked like trash."
"Okay, this time," Kagami took a deep breath, sheathing her weapon. "This wasn't completely my fault."
"Whatever you say." She rolled her eyes before she turned around. "I'll assume you know how to use that so, if you ever need anything, give me a call. I run a group of men and women in the Atlas army that specialize in swordsmanship. And trust me," She gave a reassuring glare. "They're not like him."
She simply nodded back to the Captain, not really knowing what else to say. She never thought in a million years she would see that woman again. She sighed, slowly turning around and walking away. "Captain Caesar." She gave a nod before sighing. "I owe you big time!"
"I'll hold you to that!" The woman called back, walking off in the other direction.
Back at where Kagami's locker was, team MACE was back together. As Elise was desperately searching Kagami for any extra wounds, Cheyenne softly knocked on the locker. "Hey Bushy," She quietly spoke. "It's us. All the Grimm are gone."
Slowly pushing up from the door of the locker, a brown puffy tail popped out as Bushy slowly stepped out herself. She gulped, holding tightly onto Elise's baton. "K-Kay..." She licked her lips a bit.
Giving a sigh, the deer Faunus looked back at her team. "Kagami, you and Elise head back to Beacon. Kris," She looked over at the red head. "Want to help me take Bushy to a friend's of mine?"
"Can you explain her first?" Elise glanced over at her. "I need some sort of explanation."
"Right." Cheyenne sighed, glancing at Bushy before back at her team. She then went to explaining the whole story from how she ran into Bushy, helped her clean the weapons and to how she snuck her out.
When sje was finished, Kris facepalmed amd softly shook her head. "I'm on a team with idiots."
Elise glanced at Kris before shrugging softly at Cheyenne. "I think she did the right thing. I mean, it seems like the right thing to do."
"Go on." Kagami lifted her head to say Cheyenne could go. She was halfway leaning on Elise. "Take her to your friend's. Don't worry about it. Just stay safe."
"Insane idiots." The short red head quietly muttered.
Cheyenne gave a smile, looking down at Bushy. "Come on." She smiled and held out her hand.
Bushy gulped, reaching up and grabbing the Faunus' hand tight. With her other hand, she held out the baton towards the brunet. "Here." She quietly spoke.
Elise smiled, nodding and she took her weapon back. She glanced over at Kagami, eyebrows raised. "You think you can make it back to school?"
Her leader rolled her eyes, smiling a bit. "Of course I can."
As the two started off, Kris sighed softly before she crossed her arms and looked up at Cheyenne. "So who's this friend?"
"Well, you see." She held Bushy's hand a bit tighter. "When I first ran away from the White Fang, I ended up in the woods and I killed an Alpha Beowolf for some armor." She glanced over at the red head. "I ended up finding this family who lived in the woods. They had this super sweet blonde daughter. I think I may have gotten her to want to become a Huntress." She softly chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. "She kinda wants to change the world now or at least save some people."
"And... they'll take care of me?" Bushy looked up, gulping a bit.
Cheyenne looked down, nodding. "Yep. They took me in really quick just because I was starving. They'll love to take you in. Trust me. I think their girl is around your age too." She smiled.
With a nod, the squirrel Faunus looked down. She then gave a small smile. "You think I could help the world out too one day?"
"Of course you can." She squeezed her hand tight. "I'm sure you and their daughter will become great friends and do amazing things for the world. I bet my life on it."
"That's cool." Bushy smiled a bit more, watching her feet.
"You're really good with smaller children." Kris crossed her arms, watching the smaller girl.
"Yeah, I guess." Cheyenne smiled with a shrug, looking over. "I just want to make things better for her. You know, give her the life she deserves."
"You'll make a great mother." The red head quietly said, her head lowering a bit. "You'll make a really amazing mother." Though she tried to hide it, there was a small hint of sadness in her voice.
Cheyenne sighed softly, looking ahead as the sun started to set in the distance. "We should make it there before it's dark. They don't live that far off. They're actually really close to the city." She glanced down at Bushy. "You'll like them. I promise."