A Grimm Situation
"So, what're we looking for again?" Aichmire said, unsure of why they were doing this. "Anything that stands out over at those ruins." Replied Arcusan, bow at the ready. "Stavros! Anything up there?" The Albowtross shook his head from above them. "The skies are empty, guess birds aren't that common here. Anything down there?" Arcusan replied, "Nope, nothing hostile or docile. It's like everyone took a vacation."
Aichmire walked alongside the other two, sword kept close to his chest. "I wonder if there's anything out there that's stronger than those wolves." He said, eyes darting around for anything that moved. "It'd at least make for an exciting fight." Arcusan rolled his eyes before sprinting towards their destination. Aichmire ran with him, Stavros diving with his wings to follow.
"Should we do anything about these… Creatures?" Glynda watched the Order party make progress through the forest through the cameras. "Until they show a credible threat, no." Ozpin replied, drinking coffee like he was watching Netflix. "Ozpin, they clearly show experience with those weapons they wield, one of them is outright flying!"
"Calm down, Glynda, I'm sure we could apprehend them if necessary." Ozpin didn't really seem to mind the little stick people walking in the Emerald Forest. "I'm sure that they won't be a problem." "But, professor, the initiation is tomorrow!" Glynda exclaimed. "That also means we can deal with the problem tomorrow." Glynda's eye twitched in frustration as Ozpin continued drinking.
The sound of a man sipping coffee had never been so infuriating.
"Weird figures." Stavros said, holding the white knight in his hand. "I wonder what these are used for." Aichmire and Arcusan scanned the other pieces. "They've all got a black version, maybe it's all part of a set?" The Swordwrath said, Arcusan nodding in agreement. He looked around, looking for something else. "Weird how there's a temple out here just for these things."
Growls came from the bushes behind them, and a trio of Beowolves emerged. Aichmire was the first to react, spinning around with his sword at the ready. A Beowolf rushed at him, but got stunned by an unexpected leap slash from noise alerted the two ranged sticks, starting the real fight.
Aichmire slashed at the dazed Beowolf as Stavros ended it with a clean bolt to the head. The Swordwrath switched his focus to the Beowolf to his right, charging sword-first. Another Beowolf tried to claw at him, but staggered back in pain thanks to an arrow to the leg. Arcusan and Stavros distracted it with arrows and bolts as the Swordwrath of the group tried to slice and dice its brother.
Aichmire guarded against each claw by his opponent, stabbing whenever he got the chance to. Strangely, the wolf didn't seem to care that it was getting wounded or that its attacks failed to do meaningful damage. It just kept going, determined to kill him. He blocked an incoming claw slash, having to then draw back to dodge a bite. Every time he dodged, he slashed back with otherwise deadly strength and accuracy. But, it seemed that anywhere he struck, the wolf didn't care about the damage it was taking.
The Beowolf grew more and more aggressive with time, trying to claw through the guard of Aichmire's sword. It tried uppercuts, it tried side swipes, it even tried outright tackling him. The onslaught of attacks left Aichmire with no real chance to attack, hiding behind his blade. He looked over to the bigger, seemingly older Beowolf. It was dodging arrows and bolts alike, far more concerned about survival than the smaller wolf he was fighting. A lightbulb flicked on above his head, and he dropped his guard. He took a massive claw to the chest, flinching in pain before quickly stabbing through the Beowolf's head. He kicked the now dead Beowolf off his sword, before turning to the other Beowolf.
The mature Beowolf, seeing that it was completely outnumbered, sped off into the distance to regroup. Aichmire stabbed his bloodied sword into the ground, the blood quickly turning to dust. "They're like dogs, the smaller they are, the more they hate you." He said, looking at the others. "Hey, Stavros. Mind getting me a lift? I need to get to the Meric."
Ozpin watched on, intrigued by the sticks' skill. He refilled his coffee, saying, "If they hadn't appeared out of nowhere, I would've hired them." Glynda looked over, her sense of humour long having disappeared. "You're joking, right, Ozpin? You wouldn't seriously-" "Calm yourself, Glynda. I expected more professionalism, even if you're angry." Ozpin said, his usually reassuring voice irking her a little.
"I'm sorry, Ozpin, but I can't help but stress when these things are at the worst place possible for tomorrow." Glynda apologized, still showing worry. Ozpin replied, saying, "Again, we can handle it when the time comes. For now, we can rest eas- Are those Ursai?"
"Guys! Two big freakin' bears coming in hot! Do we fight or not?!" Stavros shouted from above, noticing two large beasts approaching their location. Aichmire looked behind himself to where the Ursai were going to appear. He clutched his chest wound, and then pulled his sword out of the dirt. "If we hide, the wings would be a dead giveaway, and if we flee, me and Arcusan wouldn't be fast enough. Damn bears." A red glow emanated from Aichmire's body after he spoke, getting his sword into guard position. Arcusan and Stavros loaded their weapons, waiting for the Ursai.
Roars rung through the forest as the Ursai entered sight. Aichmire shouted out, "Distract one, I'll cut the other into pieces!" He ran straight into one of the Ursai, not waiting for a response. The Ursa's partner tried to swat away the relatively small stickman, but was staggered back by the storm of arrows and bolts.
Aichmire ruthlessly slashed and dashed the Ursa, letting loose the magic Rage that gave the Swordwrath their name. The Ursa fought back with equal anger, striking the energized Swordwrath backward. This didn't stop Aichmire, as he leapt into the air and slashed downward, slicing off the Ursa's right arm. The Ursa roared in anger and smacked Aichmire into a nearby tree for revenge. He struggled to get back up, unused to taking direct and unguarded strikes. The Ursa jumped to smash into him, but missed its target as Aichmire rolled onto the ground, his eyes not unlike a Grimm's.
Aichmire stabbed into the Ursa's chest as the beast bashed into his chest wound. Aichmire's sheer Rage prevented him from falling down, letting him kick the Ursa off his sword. He leapt into the air once more, now determined to seperate the Ursa's head from its body. The Ursa tried to claw at him as he landed, but it quickly lost the ability to do so. Aichmire's Rage ended, a freshly bloodied sword and a decapitated Ursa being the result.
Arcusan and Stavros weren't faring as well. Without meatshields at the front, Arcusan mostly acted as a distraction for the Ursa, running around while firing off shots. He dodged a right hook while nocking another arrow, and then rolled backward to avoid a body slam. Arcusan barely missed the head of the Ursa, shooting and hitting the beast's left arm. "Stavros, need a little help here!" Arcusan called out. "It's not my fault this guy's faster than a Shadowrath!" Stavros replied in distress. He fired off a crossbow bolt that hit the Ursa's back. The Ursa glared at him in anger, but tried to attack Arcusan aftwerward.
An arrow to the face stopped it in its tracks.
With two Ursai down, and a very wounded Swordwrath in the party, Stavros called out to the other two. "Hey, we really gotta get back up there. If there are more of those black monsters, we'd better not be there to see them." Aichmire and Arcusan nodded, sprinting back to the cliff.
Ozpin turned off the monitor. Glynda had already left the room, off to do something else. He considered what to do tomorrow. He could go and meet the stick creatures–they spoke the language, after all. He wasn't sure how they would react to strangers, though, he'd have to speak tactically. They obviously showed skill with their weapons, the sword user held it as easy as he breathed. Maybe he should recruit them, definitely not as teachers. "The kids might mistake them for Grimm, hah."
Right, he still had an initation to judge. Ozpin got up and walked out of his office, refilling his cup on the way. "I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be interesting."
Hope I got Ozpin and Glynda's characterizations right. Pretty new to RWBY, so I might write the characters wrong. I'll fix em' when I catch em', though.
